ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PARENTING

Index

2017-01-01T17:37:00.000-08:00

This site is set out in categories with chapters (in alphabetical order) under each chapter. Supplemental material is posted in the way of videos and articles. Most of the supplemental material is linked from the individual chapters. Please let me know by making a comment if any of the supplemental materials are no longer available.

Section 1: Beginnings
Who I Am?
Critical Thinking: How can I tell the difference between good research and garbage?
Safety First
Section 1: BEGINNINGS: Overview
Chapter 1: Adoption
Chapter 2: Association vs Isolation
Chapter 3: Boundaries and Expectations
Chapter 3: Boundaries and Expections: Curfews
Chapter 4: Brain Development
Chapter 5: Child Care
Chapter 6: Consistency in Parenting
Chapter 7: Creativity and Parenting
Chapter 8: Parenting and Culture
Chapter 9: Curiosity and Exploration
Chapter 10: Depression and Parenting
Chapter 11: Early Years - Child Development
Chapter 12: Family Councils/Meetings
Chapter 13: Fatherhood
Chapter 14: Friendship
Chapter 15: The Importance of: Fun and Play
Chapter 16: Gardens/Plants, and Children
Chapter 17: Happiness and Joy (Children and Family)
Chapter 18: Health: Prenatal, Child, Family
Chapter 19: Holidays and Traditions: A Pile of Junk do not Great Memories Make
Chapter 20: Hugs and other good touch
Chapter 21: Meal Time
Chapter 22: Medical
Chapter 23: Mental Health: Prenatal, Child, Family
Chapter 24: Motherhood
Chapter 25: Names, What’s in a Name
Chapter 26: Natural Learning Environments
Chapter 27: Nutrition: Prnatal, Child, Family
Chapter 28: Parental Education
Chapter 29: Parents - Marriage
Chapter 30: Parents Agree, When Parent’s Agree
Chapter 31: Pets
Chapter 32: The Power of “Yes”
Chapter 33: Quality vs. Quantity
Chapter 34: Reading
Chapter 35: Religion
Chapter 36: Resources
Chapter 37: Sleep: During pregnancy, For Child, For Family
Chapter 38: Spanking
Chapter 39: Speech
Chapter 40: Stability: Prenatal, Child, Family
Chapter 41: Stress HELPING YOUR CHILDREN (and you) THROUGH TIMES OF STRESS
Chapter 42: Support
Chapter 43: Tobacco, Drugs, and Alcohol
Chapter 44: Typical Development
Section 2: TEACHING/EDUCATION A few of the things you need to teach your children: Overview.
Chapter 1: Academic
Chapter 2: Accountability
Chapter 3: Art and Music
Chapter 4: Cars
Chapter 5: Children as Reflection
Chapter 6: The Classics
Chapter 7: Citizenship
Chapter 8: Common Courtesy
Chapter 9: Communication/Speech
Chapter 10: Dating
Chapter 11: Empowerment
Chapter 12: Forgiveness
Chapter 13: Funny Now? Is it Funny Now? Will it be Funny When?
Chapter 14: Goals, Setting and Achieving
Chapter 15: Good Touch/Bad Touch
Chapter 16: Honesty
Chapter 17: Internet
Chapter 18: Jewelry
Chapter 19: Leadership
Chapter 20: Love/Relationships
Chapter 21: Makeup
Chapter 22: Reading
Chapter 23: Religion
Chapter 24: Respect/Reverence
Chapter 25: Self-Efficacy (Is Self-Esteem Overrated?)
Chapter 26: Self-Respect (Not Self-Indulgence)
Chapter 27: Service
Chapter 28: Sex and Morality
Chapter 29: Stress Management and Reduction
Chapter 30: Telephones
Chapter 31: Work
Chapter 32: Violence
Section 3: RELATIONSHIPS: Overview
Chapter 1: Apologize
Chapter 2: Carefrontation Sandwich
Chapter 3: Celebrate Success
Chapter 4: Cherish, Value, and Honor
Chapter 5: Communication
Chapter 6: Consistency, Continuity, Dependability
Chapter 7: Evaluate - Feedback
Chapter 8: Fail forward
Chapter 9: Flexibility: Be flexible
Chapter 10: Fun
Chapter 11: Gratitude
Chapter 12: Humor
Chapter 13: Let Go, Forgive
Chapter 14: Love
Chapter 15: Motivate
Chapter 16: Purpose
Chapter 17: Respect/Reverence
Chapter 18: Self-Reliance
Chapter 19: Service
Chapter 20: Stick with it...Persevere. Work
Chapter 21: Take Responsibility, Give Credit
Chapter 22: Time
Chapter 23: Work
Section 4: RESILIENCE: Overview
Chapter 1: Resources and Assets
Chapter 2: Assets vs. Deficits
Chapter 3: Protective Factors vs. Risk Factors
Section 5: BEHAVIOR: Overview
Chapter 1: Behaviorism
Chapter 2: Active Children
Chapter 3: Activity
Chapter 4: Anger
Chapte 5: Biting
Chapter 6: Carefrontation
Chapter 7: Choices (3)
Chapter 8: Consistency
Chapter 9: Corporal Punishment (Spanking)
Chapter 10: Decisions Determine Destiny
Chapter 11: Eating
Chapter 12: Environment
Chapter 13: Eye contact
Chapter 14: Facial expression
Chapter 15: First Comply Then Ask Why
Chapter 16: Focus: What we focus on Increases
Chapter 17: General Concepts
Chapter 18: Health
Chapter 19: Intervention
Chapter 20: Listening, Look like you're listening and really listen. Listen more than talk.
Chapter 21: Love vs. Fear
Chapter 22: Lying
Chapter 23: Manipulation
Chapter 24: Names: Sometimes the most beautiful, and sometimes the most awful word.
Chapter 25: Natural, Logical Consequences
Chapter 26: Nature Abhors a Vacuum: What does your child REALLY want?
Chapter 27: Nevertheless (A magic parenting word)
Chapter 28: Parent or Friend: much of the time you can be both; but when a choice has to be made, you're job is to be a parent.
Chapter 29: Positioning: allowing escape or containing
Chapter 30: Praise
Chapter 31: Problem solving
Chapter 32: Punishment
Chapter 33: Put Downs and Degradation: 0 tolerance from anyone, even in humor or jest.
Chapter 34: Redirection, Diversion, Distraction
Chapter 35: Relaxed vs aggressive or authoritative
Chapter 36: Reinforcement: Natural Reinforcement and Natural Consequences: Parenting that Lasts
Chapter 37: Responsibility vs blame
Chapter 38: Secondary Gain
Chapter 39: Setting Events
Chapter 40: Setting Limits
Chapter 41: Side or cross dialogue
Chapter 42: Sleep
Chapter 43: Space
Chapter 44: Stance and Positioning
Chapter 45: Stress
Chapter 46: Talking to vs. Talking about Pros and Cons
Chaper 47: Tantrums
Chapter 48: Transitions
Chapter 49: Tone, Cadence, Breath and Speed
Section 6: DISORDERS/SYNDROMES/ISSUES: Overview
Chapter 1: Addictions
Chapter 2: Attachment Disorders
Chapter 3: Attention Deficit (Hyperactive) Disorder
Chapter 4: Autism/Aspergers Syndrome
Chapter 4a: What is Autism? Why is it on the rise? What can we do about it?
Chapter 5: Crying: What to do about a crying infant/baby Chapter 6: Depression
Chapter 7: Downs Syndrome
Chapter 8: Eating Disorders
Chapter 9: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Chapter 10: Hiding
Chapter 11: Nightmares
Chapter 12: Other syndroms and disorders
Bonus Section: Free Samples, Free Stuff, for Parents, Kids, and Teens. Links to hundreds of freebies for the family on the Internet.

Joint Attention, Parenting and Treatment a free PowerPoint

Around the world, better parenting makes for better students, new international study says (Julie Mack blog) | MLive.com

2011-11-22T17:12:00.000-08:00

Around the world, better parenting makes for better students, new international study says (Julie Mack blog) MLive.com: Fifteen-year-old students whose parents often read books with them during their first year of primary school show markedly higher scores in PISA 2009 than students whose parents read with them infrequently or not at all.
The performance advantage among students whose parents read to them in their early school years is evident regardless of the family’s socio-economic background.
Parents’ engagement with their 15-year-olds is strongly associated with better performance in PISA.

Mental Health: Prenatal, Child, Family

2011-11-19T09:53:00.000-08:00

Resources:
Mom-to-Be's Mental State May Affect Child's Development

Mom-to-Be's Mental State May Affect Child's Development - US News and World Report

2011-11-19T09:50:00.000-08:00

Mom-to-Be's Mental State May Affect Child's Development - US News and World Report: Consistency in the mother's mental state appeared to be important to a baby's well-being. Development was best in babies with mothers who were either depression-free or had depression before and after giving birth.
Development was slower in babies born to mothers who went from depressed before birth to non-depressed after birth or from non-depressed before birth to depressed after birth, the investigators found.

The End of Innocence: The cost of sexualizing kids | Deseret News

2011-09-18T15:21:00.000-07:00

The End of Innocence: The cost of sexualizing kids Deseret News: Even in a mall in Utah, one of the most conservative states in the country, bodies scream for attention. On a late summer afternoon, a teenage "novelty" shop employee stands atop a ladder in super-short shorts, midriff showing, arranging merchandise. It's not clear if she knows how very much of her is on display. But the teenage boys ogling her do.
She's just feet from a rack of T-shirts emblazoned with stick figures interacting provocatively. Further into the store, Super Mario backpacks share an aisle with a "how-to guide" showing a sex act on the cover.

Biting and Hiting

2011-09-15T18:47:00.000-07:00

Please check the following resources:

Understanding Children Biting

Stopping Toddler Biting

Biting Topic Overview

Fighting and Biting

Aggression, Hiting, and Biting

Social Emotional Development

2011-08-25T14:57:00.000-07:00

Please see the information at: http://www.childdevelopment.me.uk/Social_Emotional_Developmen.html
Please comment and/or ask questions below.

Paents - Marriage

2011-07-28T08:45:00.000-07:00

Perhaps the best marriages are not a perfect match; but a good compliment. While this may require more compromise, empathy, listening, understanding, and work, as a whole you become more than the sum of the parts.

Much more can and will be said about this subject.

Do names prejudice how others perceive your status? A study suggests yes

2011-07-02T12:16:00.000-07:00

Participants of the study were asked to guess the success of students with various names on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the most successful. The highest scoring names turned out to be Katherine, scoring a 7.42, and Samuel, scoring a 7.20. With a score of 5.74, Amber ranked lowest among female names while Travis ranked overall lowest with a score of 5.55. As John Waggoner, a researcher from Bloomberg University, points out: “Katherine goes to the private school, statistically; Lauren goes to a public university, and Briana goes to community college. Sierra and Dakota, they don’t go to college.”

(From Dictionary.com)

Click here to read the rest of the article

Click here for more on this subject

Joint Attention, Parenting and Treatment a free PowerPoint

2011-05-05T19:36:00.000-07:00

Download the file below. While playing the PowerPoint, depress the space bar if you wish to skip the animations.

Feel free to share with others; but please keep the reference to this blog at the end.

http://www.mediafire.com/?4dq3d2sxwua5x24

Baby Names and Parenting

2011-04-04T17:57:00.001-07:00

Naming babies is a favorite pastime of soon to be parents. Some opt for popular names, others for unusual names, others search deep into their family history and honor a favorite aunt, uncle, grandparent or distant ancestor by endowing their new child with a family name. Others look to famous people from the past or from current events; but does it really matter?

Yes it does, research has shown the importance of a name. When a child is named after a person and that person is held as a standard for the child, the child often takes upon them characteristics of that person. Click below to read just some of the reported research.

Good or Bad, Baby Names Have Long-lasting Effects

http://www.livescience.com/6569-good-bad-baby-names-long-lasting-effects.html

Do names prejudice how others perceive your status? A study suggests yes

Mums who drink in pregnancy have unruly kids - The Times of India

2011-03-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

Mums who drink in pregnancy have unruly kids - The Times of India: "Teenagers whose mothers drank early in pregnancy are more likely to become unruly, aggressive and badly behaved, researchers claim.

According to their study, the risk of anti-social behaviour rose threefold among 16-year-olds whose mothers drank as little as one alcoholic drink a day during the first three months of pregnancy, reports the Daily Mail ."

Motherhood and Parenting

2011-02-19T16:53:00.000-08:00

There is an evil movement in the world to diminish the roll and value of mothers. If completely successful, all is lost, nothing else matters.

The Hand That Rocks The Cradle

Blessings on the hand of women!

Angels guard its strength and grace,
In the palace, cottage, hovel,
Oh, no matter where the place;
Would that never storms assailed it,
Rainbows ever gently curled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Infancy's the tender fountain,
Power may with beauty flow,
Mother's first to guide the streamlets,
From them souls unresting grow--
Grow on for the good or evil,
Sunshine streamed or evil hurled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Woman, how divine your mission
Here upon our natal sod!
Keep, oh, keep the young heart open
Always to the breath of God!
All true trophies of the ages
Are from mother-love impearled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Blessings on the hand of women!
Fathers, sons, and daughters cry,
And the sacred song is mingled
With the worship in the sky--
Mingles where no tempest darkens,
Rainbows evermore are hurled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

William Ross Wallace (1819-1881)

Train Up A Child
"These words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up."

Deuteronomy 6:6-7

Just as not all men who have children can justifiably bare the sublime designation of father, so it is with mother.
Some women who have never born a child, yet garner all the virtues and love of motherhood.

You can find research on motherhood and education, morality, and just about anything else through the specialized search engines below. In this posting, I have chosen to share the wisdom of many.

The phrase "working mother" is redundant. ~Jane Sellman

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. ~Rajneesh

I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life. ~Abraham Lincoln

Some mothers are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same, and most mothers kiss and scold together. ~Pearl S. Buck

If you have a mom, there is nowhere you are likely to go where a prayer has not already been. ~Robert Brault, http://www.robertbrault.com/

The real religion of the world comes from women much more than from men - from mothers most of all, who carry the key of our souls in their bosoms. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

He is a poor son whose sonship does not make him desire to serve all men's mothers. ~Harry Emerson Fosdick

An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy. ~Spanish Proverb

She never quite leaves her children at home, even when she doesn't take them along. ~Margaret Culkin Banning

If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands? ~Milton Berle

The sweetest sounds to mortals given

Are heard in Mother, Home, and Heav
~William Goldsmith Brown

What are Raphael's Madonnas but the shadow of a mother's love, fixed in permanent outline forever? ~Thomas Wentworth Higginson

The formative period for building character for eternity is in the nursery. The mother is queen of that realm and sways a scepter more potent than that of kings or priests. ~Author Unknown

Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible. ~Marion C. Garretty, quoted in A Little Spoonful of Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul

I love my mother as the trees love water and sunshine - she helps me grow, prosper, and reach great heights. ~Terri Guillemets

[A] mother is one to whom you hurry when you are troubled. ~Emily Dickinson

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts. ~Washington Irving

That best academy, a mother's knee. ~James Russell Lowell

A mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them. ~Victor Hugo

Grown don't mean nothing to a mother. A child is a child. They get bigger, older, but grown? What's that suppose to mean? In my heart it don't mean a thing. ~Toni Morrison, Beloved, 1987

A mom forgives us all our faults, not to mention one or two we don't even have. ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com

My mother is a poem
I'll never be able to write,
though everything I write
is a poem to my mother.
~Sharon Doubiago

With what price we pay for the glory of motherhood. ~Isadora Duncan

One good mother is worth a hundred schoolmasters. ~George Herbert

There's nothing like a mama-hug. ~Terri Guillemets

Who fed me from her gentle breast
And hushed me in her arms to rest,
And on my cheek sweet kisses prest?
My Mother.
~Anne Taylor

Who ran to help me when I fell,
And would some pretty story tell,
Or kiss the place to make it well?
My mother.
~Ann Taylor

Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children. ~William Makepeace Thackeray

A little girl, asked where her home was, replied, "where mother is." ~Keith L. Brooks

Youth fades; love droops; the leaves of friendship fall; A mother's secret hope outlives them all. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

If I was damned of body and soul,
I know whose prayers would make me whole,
Mother o' mine, O mother o'mine.
~Rudyard Kipling

My mother had a slender, small body, but a large heart - a heart so large that everybody's joys found welcome in it, and hospitable accommodation. ~Mark Twain

My mom is literally a part of me. You can't say that about many people except relatives, and organ donors. ~Carrie Latet

Every beetle is a gazelle in the eyes of its mother. ~Moorish Proverb

All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother. ~Abraham Lincoln

No painter's brush, nor poet's pen
In justice to her fame
Has ever reached half high enough
To write a mother's name.
~Author Unknown

God could not be everywhere, so he created mothers. ~Jewish Proverb

All mothers are working mothers. ~Author Unknown

The best conversations with mothers always take place in silence, when only the heart speaks. ~Carrie Latet

Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother. ~Oprah Winfrey

http://www.quotegarden.com/mothers.html

"All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother."
-- Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

"I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life."
-- Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

-- Cardinal Mermillod

"My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her."
-- George Washington (1732-1799)

"What the mother sings to the cradle goes all the way down to the coffin."
-- Henry Ward Beecher

"Education commences at the mother's knee, and every word spoken within hearsay of little children tends toward the formation of character."
-- Hosea Ballou

"The best academy, a mother's knee."
-- James Russell Lowell

"Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be president, but they don't want them to become politicians in the process."
-- John Fitzgerald Kennedy

"A boy's best friend is his mother."
-- Joseph Stefano

"Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother."
-- Lin Yutang

"My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it."
-- Mark Twain

"Over the years I have learned that motherhood is much like an austere religious order, the joining of which obligates one to relinquish all claims to personal possessions."
-- Nancy Stahl

"Youth fades, love droops, the leaves of friendship fall; a mother's secret hope outlives them all."
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes (1775-1817)

"When I was a child, my mother said to me, 'If you become a soldier, you'll be a general. If you become a monk you'll end up as the pope.' Instead I became a painter and wound up as Picasso."
-- Pablo Picasso

"There never was a child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him asleep."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"A mother is a mother still, The holiest thing alive."
-- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"Never say anything on the phone that you wouldn't want your mother to hear at your trial."
-- Sydney Biddle Barrows

"The commonest fallacy among women is that simply having children makes one a mother—which is as absurd as believing that having a piano makes one a musician."
-- Sydney J. Harris

"An ounce of mother is worth a ton of priest."
-- Spanish proverb

"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother."
-- Theodore Hesburgh

"A woman has two smiles that an angel might envy, the smile that accepts a lover before words are uttered, and the smile that lights on the first born babe, and assures it of a mother's love."
-- Thomas C. Haliburton

"Grown don't mean nothing to a mother. A child is a child. They get bigger, older, but grown. In my heart it don't mean a thing."
-- Toni Morrison

"A mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them."

-- Victor Hugo

"The only thing a lawyer won't question is the legitimacy of his mother."

-- W. C. Fields

"A man never sees all that his mother has been to him until it's too late to let her know that he sees it."

-- W. D. Howells

"Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children."

--William Makepeace Thackeray

"The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world."

-- William Ross Wallace

http://www.momscape.com/articles/mother-quotes.htm

Over my slumbers your loving watch keep; Rock me to sleep, mother; rock me to sleep. -Elizabeth Chase

Is my mother my friend? I would have to say, first of all she is my Mother, with a capital 'M'; she's something sacred to me. I love her dearly...yes, she is also a good friend, someone I can talk openly with if I want to.-Sophia Loren

In all my efforts to learn to read, my mother shared fully my ambition and sympathized with me and aided me in every way she could. If I have done anything in life worth attention, I feel sure that I inherited the disposition from my mother.-Booker T. Washington

It seems to me that my mother was the most splendid woman I ever knew....I have met a lot of people knocking around the world since, but I have never met a more thoroughly refined woman than my mother. If I have amounted to anything, it will be due to her.-Charles Chaplin

My mother used to say, "He who angers you, conquers you!" But my mother was a saint.-Elizabeth Kenny

Who ran to help me when I fell, And would some pretty story tell, Or kiss the place to make it well? My Mother.-Jane and Ann Taylor Original Poems for Infant Minds "My Mother"

I shall never forget my mother, for it was she who planted and nurtured the first seeds of good within me. She opened my heart to the lasting impressions of nature; she awakened my understanding and extended my horizon and her percepts exerted an everlasting influence upon the course of my life.-Immanuel Kant

My mother was the making of me. She was so true and so sure of me, I felt that I had someone to live for - someone I must not disappoint. The memory of my mother will always be a blessing to me.-Thomas A Edison

Everybody knows that a good mother gives her children a feeling of trust and stability. She is their earth. She is the one they can count on for the things that matter most of all. She is their food and their bed and the extra blanket when it grows cold in the night; she is their warmth and their health and their shelter; she is the one they want to be near when they cry. She is the only person in the whole world in a whole lifetime who can be these things to her children. There is no substitute for her. Somehow even her clothes feel different to her children's hands from anybody else's clothes. Only to touch her skirt or her sleeve makes a troubled child feel better.-Katharine Butler Hathaway

A mother has, perhaps, the hardest earthly lot; and yet no mother worthy of the name ever gave herself thoroughly for her child who did not feel that, after all, she reaped what she had sown.-Henry Ward Beecher

Motherhood is the greatest potential influence in human society. Her caress first awakens in the child a sense of security; her kiss the first realization of affection; her sympathy and tenderness, the first assurance that there is love in the world. Thus in infancy and childhood she implants ever-directing and restraining influences that remain through life.-David 0. McKay

I affirm my profound belief that God's greatest creation is womanhood. I also believe that there is no greater good in all the world than motherhood. The influence of a mother in the lives of her children is beyond calculation. James E. Faust

It's the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have...One pair that see through closed doors. Another in the back of her head...and, of course, the ones in front that can look at a child when he goofs up and reflect 'I understand and I love you' without so much as uttering a word.-Erma Bombeck

Never marry a man who hates his mother, because he'll end up hating you. -Jill Bennett

http://www.focused-momentum-lifecoach.com/mother-quotes.html

A little girl, asked where her home was, replied, "where mother is."

-- Keith L. Brooks

A mother holds her children's hands for a while...their hearts forever.

-- Author Unknown

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.

-- Washington Irving

A mother understands what a child does not say.

-- Jewish proverb

A mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them.

-- Victor Hugo

Because I feel that in the heavens above

The angels, whispering one to another,

Can find among their burning tears of love,

None so devotional as that of "Mother,"

Therefore, by that dear name I have long called you,

You who are more than mother unto me.

-- Edgar Allan Poe

Before becoming a mother I had a hundred theories on how to bring up children. Now I have seven children and only one theory: Love them, especially when they least deserve to be loved.

-- Kate Samperi

Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs in my field, since the payment is pure love.

-- Mildred B. Vermont

Children and mothers never truly part -

Bound in the beating of each other's heart.

-- Charlotte Gray

Education commences at the mother's knee, and every word spoken within the hearing of little children tends towards the formation of character.

-- Hosea Ballou

Everybody wants to save the earth; nobody wants to help Mom with the dishes.

-- P.J. O'Rourke

God could not be everywhere, so he created mothers.

-- Jewish Proverb

I never knew how much love my heart could hold until someone called me "mommy."

-- Author Unknown

I thought my mom's whole purpose was to be my mom. That's how she made me feel.

-- Natasha Gregson Wagner

I'd rather be a mother than anyone on earth

Bringing up a child or two of unpretentious birth...

I'd rather tuck a little child all safe and sound in bed

than twine a chain of diamonds about my [carefree] head.

I'd rather wash a smudgy face with round, bright, baby eyes

Than paint the pageantry of fame or walk among the wise.

-- Meredith Gray

If at first you don't succeed, do it the way your mother told you to.

-- Author Unknown

It is not until you become a mother that your judgment slowly turns to compassion and understanding.

-- Erma Bombeck

It was when I had my first child that I understood how much my mother loved me.

-- From "For Mother - A Bouquet of Sentiments"

Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes, by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, comrades and friends - but only one mother in the whole world.

-- Kate Douglas Wiggin

Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.

-- William Makepeace Thackeray

Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible.

-- Marion C. Garretty

Mother - that was the bank where we deposited all our hurts and worries.

-- T. DeWitt Talmage

Mother's love grows by giving.

-- Charles Lamb

Mother's love is peace. It need not be acquired, it need not be deserved.

-- Erich Fromm

Motherhood is not for the faint-hearted. Frogs, skinned knees, and the insults of teenage girls are not meant for the wimpy.

-- Danielle Steel

My mother is a poem

I'll never be able to write,

though everything I write

is a poem to my mother.

-- Sharon Doubiago

My mother is my root, my foundation. She planted the seed that I base my life on, and that is the belief that the ability to achieve starts in your mind.

-- Michael Jordan

No matter how old a mother is, she watches her middle-aged children for signs of improvement.

-- Florida Scott-Maxwell

One good mother is worth a hundred schoolmasters.

-- George Herbert

She never quite leaves her children at home, even when she doesn't take them along.

-- Margaret Culkin Banning

She was of the stuff of which great men's mothers are made. She was indispensable to high generation, hated at tea parties, feared in shops, and loved at crises.

-- Thomas Hardy

The greatest thing she'd learned over the years is that there's no way to be a perfect mother, but a million ways to be a good one.

-- Author Unknown

The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.

-- Honoré de Balzac

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.

-- Rajneesh

The mother's heart is the child's school-room.

-- Henry Ward Beecher

The patience of a mother might be likened to a tube of toothpaste - it's never quite all gone.

-- Author Unknown

The strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.

-- Barbara Kingsolver

The sweetest sounds to mortals given

Are heard in Mother, Home, and Heaven.

-- William Goldsmith Brown

There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it.

-- Chinese Proverb

When I was a child, my mother said to me, 'If you become a soldier, you'll be a general. If you become a monk you'll end up as the pope.' Instead I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.

-- Pablo Picasso

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.

-- Sophia Loren

Who ran to help me when I fell,

And would some pretty story tell,

Or kiss the place to make it well?

My mother.

-- Ann Taylor

Women do not have to sacrifice personhood if they are mothers. They do not have to sacrifice motherhood in order to be persons. Liberation was meant to expand women's opportunities, not to limit them. The self-esteem that has been found in new pursuits can also be found in mothering.

-- Elaine Heffner

You may have tangible wealth untold;

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be

I had a mother who read to me.

-- Strickland Gillilan

Youth fades; love droops; the leaves of friendship fall; A mother's secret hope outlives them all.

-- Oliver Wendell Holmes

http://www.great-inspirational-quotes.com/mother-quotes.html

Attention Deficit (Hyperactive) Disorder

2011-02-08T12:26:00.001-08:00

Supplementary Material

Kids With ADHD Often Have Other Problems

The top 10 parenting tips of 2010 | Mormon Times

2010-12-24T07:42:00.000-08:00

The top 10 parenting tips of 2010 | Mormon Times: "As a special Christmas gift to you loyal readers, here are the top 10 parenting tips of the year — the 10 best ideas we have come across to strengthen your family, 'happify' your kids and 'peace out' your own busy life. You may not want to try them all at once, but pick the ones that you think you need most and include them in your New Year's resolutions."

Breast-feeding benefits academic performance 10 years later - latimes.com

2010-12-20T16:31:00.000-08:00

Breast-feeding benefits academic performance 10 years later - latimes.com: "Breast-feeding infants for at least six months appears to give kids' an advantage in school, according to a study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

Many other studies have also found a small effect on school performance from breast-feeding. This study, however, was unique in that boys appeared to benefit the most."

Story time — 10 questions and answers that can unlock the secrets to successful storytelling | Mormon Times

2010-12-19T10:32:00.000-08:00

Story time — 10 questions and answers that can unlock the secrets to successful storytelling Mormon Times: "Are there times in your house devoid of monster noises, blaring televisions and Xbox background music? Times when the only sound you hear is your own quiet voice?"

edpsy10natural

2010-12-01T13:45:00.000-08:00

edpsy10natural: "Reinforcement can conveniently be divided into artificial (contrived) and natural (logical) reinforcement. This division applies to all three types of reinforcement. A reinforcer is artificial (contrived) to the extent that the recipient sees it as logically unrelated to the task which must be performed in order to obtain it. A reinforcer is natural (logical) to the extent that the recipient perceives it as logically related to the task he has to perform to obtain it. Few reinforcers are purely natural or artificial. Rather, reinforcers can be graded along a continuum, with some reinforcers being more natural than others.6 For example, reading a book because it is a good book is at the natural end of the curriculum. Reading a book when I hate the book but my parents will pay me five dollars for reading it is at the artificial end. Reading a book when I would rather watch television because I know my parents would be proud of me would be somewhere in the middle of the continuum. Likewise, reading a difficult book because I want to become a photographer and I know I can get a better job as a photographer if I get a college degree is somewhere in the middle."

PINNACLE - Behavior Problems of Children With Autism, Parental Self-Efficacy, and Mental Health

2010-12-01T12:19:00.000-08:00

PINNACLE - Behavior Problems of Children With Autism, Parental Self-Efficacy, and Mental Health: "Self-efficacy has been identified in the general parenting literature as an important variable affecting parent outcomes. In the present study, 26 mothers and 20 fathers of children with autism reported on their self-efficacy, anxiety, and depression. Teachers rated the behavior problems of the children. Regression analyses showed that self-efficacy mediated the effect of child behavior problems on mothers' anxiety and depression, but there was no evidence that it functioned as a mediator for fathers. However, there was evidence that self-efficacy moderated the effect of child behavior problems on fathers' anxiety. No evidence for the moderating effect of self-efficacy was apparent for mothers. Methodological issues and the theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed."

Holidays and Traditions: A Pile of Junk do not Great Memories Make

2010-11-28T10:09:00.001-08:00

This morning as I watched and listened to Christmas programs with music and narration my thoughts reverted to my childhood Christmases. We never had much that could be called excess and yet there were always presents under the tree; however I have no recollection of any of my presents with the exception of a truck when I was very young. What I do remember are the times with family. I remember the trees and the German tradition from my mother’s side of the family of going to the homes of aunts and my dear grandmother on Christmas eve to open presents. While I don’t remember any presents but the one, I remember the homes, the music, and the warm relationships. I remember Christmas dinner at my aunt Virgina’s home every Christmas day. Those are the things I remember from my childhood Christmases.

As I grew, married, and started a family of my own, we too did not usually have much excess; however I have wonderful warm memories and cherished photo’s from those times.

One Christmas I especially remember was in Rexburg Idaho. We had decided to forgo a Christmas tree that year (much to the scorn of some of my co-workers). Instead, we went around to large appliance stores and retrieved empty and broken down boxes and brought them home. From these we created a stable, animals, Joseph, Mary, and Shepherds. I don‘t remember what we made the manager from but child‘s doll played the part of the baby Jesus. The children with my wife and I colored the people, stable, and animals. In the end we did put up a small tree in the basement; however the nativity and the time spent with our children is what I remember most from that Christmas. I also cherish the many memories of making treats and delivering them to friends and neighbors. One of my favorite gifts was a hand made warm ear band given to my by a Carmel, a childhood friend, which I still appreciate and wear on cold winter days. We no longer practice the German tradition of opening presents on Christmas eve; but have resorted to the standard Christmas morning; however, every year our children have become used to and expect to sit and read the story of the birth of Christ and share our family prayer before any presents are opened. My hope is that they always remember that He really is the reason for the season.

I love Christmas, it is my favorite holiday, closely followed by Thanksgiving, with the family games and movies we shared (and when we lived in Rexburg the choral music in the old Tabernacle).

I’m not a big fan of Halloween; though my wife is. Over the years we have had many students live in our home. This year we have a wonderful young man from Ulsan Korea. We invited many of his friends over for a pre-Halloween party and carved pumpkins with Koreans, Chinese, and one student from Kuwait. We took great pictures and had a wonderful time that we will and I hope they will always remember.

Most gifts purchased from a store decay and are eventually forgotten; however, there are common threads in all of my best memories from any holiday. They involve creating something (for little or no money) together, they involved building relationships, and they involved giving to and including others. Those are the threads that make fond memories.

What is Autism? Why is it on the rise? What can we do about it?

2010-11-26T17:20:00.000-08:00

What is Autism?

Autism is a complicated neurological disorder which affects the brain and results in a developmental disability. It is characterized by: 1) Unusual and repetitive behaviors and/or narrow obsessive interests; 2) Poor Communication; and 3) Poor social skills to include: a) lack of or difficulty with joint attention (the ability to focus on the same item, person, animal, or thing “jointly” with another person, and/or b) significantly to extremely guarded interactions.

When people talk about Autism, they may mean the entire spectrum that would include: Autism, PDD NOS, or Aspergers.

Why is it on the rise?

There has been a great deal of conflictual information regarding soaring autism rates. Some have postulated that it is caused by childhood vaccinations. This theory has been tested and rebutted multiple times. However; there is still a possibility that while perhaps not causal there may be some environmental factor(s) in the rise in autism.

Others believe that the rising rate is simply due to our better ability to recognize autism and the current interest in focusing on this particular disability. Surly there is some truth to this. We are better able to recognize autism today than twenty years ago; however, that does not explain the numbers.

Some believe that in our changing society people with milder forms of autism are having more children. This is probably the case as today there are many very successful people with some form of autism and for some, we know there is a genetic component. However; this again cannot account for all the rise in diagnoses.

Another fairly recent finding has linked the age of the parents, either the mother or the father, and the rise in autism. Some research has made a connection with older parents and an increased incidence of autism.

The bottom line is, we don’t entirely know. There may be a combination of multiple factors and/or a cause yet unknown.

What can we do about it?

Fortunately there is reason to hope. There may be medical treatments on the horizon which can significantly improve symptoms for some children. There is some promising research that may even bring about a cure or prevention for some. While it may be years before we know, some good first steps have been taken.

We also know a great deal more today about treatment, what works and for whom. Treatment is so prescriptive now that there are solid options for many according age, diagnosis, and severity. We also know that best practice includes early intervention in the child’s natural environment within the child’s natural routines and involves the parents. This type of intervention in consultation with experts in the field is relatively inexpensive, in many cases saves money over the lifetime of the child, and dramatically enhances the quality of life for both child and family. In some cases, with the right intervention and higher functioning children, it has even eliminated enough of the symptoms for the child to lose the diagnosis of autism.

Supplemental material:

Best Practice Intervention Descriptions

http://www.autismspeaks.org/whatisit/index.php

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/autism/

http://www.bestoutcomes.blogspot.com/

http://currentautismresearchhopeforautism.blogspot.com/

Natural Reinforcement and Natural Consequences: Parenting that Lasts

2010-11-24T17:00:00.001-08:00

Most parents want to teach their children skills, behaviors, and character traits which will last and even be improved upon well into adulthood. One of the keys to teaching that lasts is using natural reinforcement and natural consequences.

Too often we use contrived reinforcements and limit or eliminate the consequences. While it is appropriate to, with love and mercy, limit some consequences in some situations, it is essential for children to learn, understand, and incorporate the law of natural consequences into their lives. Children who do not learn this at a young age, will either become a sever annoyance to family, teachers, and would be friends, or will experience much more painful lessons at the hand of society.

Natural consequences can be taught in a very natural and common sense manner without getting upset or causing the child to become upset. When a young child spills a glass of milk, if s/he is able, have the child clean it up, and help if necessary. If the glass was spilled because it was too full, the consequence is less milk in the glass at one time. If the child drops the container of milk because it was too large, then the child needs to wait until s/he is a little older and bigger to try it again (and if you told the child to get the container, the cleaning up consequence may be yours).

Natural reinforcement is similarly simple. Sometimes we use contrived reinforcement to teach a child to do something and sometimes this is appropriate because it is more immediate. For example: you MAY need to use pennies or small candies to initially teach your child to put clothes or toys away; but a better reinforcer is praise from you and others, and eventually the good feeling that comes from a clean room. Another example of a contrived reinforcement is something we did with our children for a time when they were young. We had a large bag we called the “gobble monster.” Once a week, at a preset time, either my wife or I would go through the house and pick all the clothing, books, toys, and other personal items left lying around the house by our children. We would then call all the children together and give them their allowance (one of the rare times we used allowances). The children would then have to purchase everything that was theirs and that they still wanted from the “gobble monster.” (The price was the same on a per item basis.) Anything they didn’t want went to the local thrift store or we would put it into storage. Because people are not usually paid to pick up their own items around their own house, money is a contrived or artificial reinforcement. Today, all of my children are fairly tidy and prefer a clean house. Natural reinforcers have taken over from the more contrived reinforcers of their childhood.

Another example of natural reinforcement is when you are trying to teach a child to say please and the child says “please may I have a drink of milk.” Wouldn’t it be silly to say to the child “good job saying please” and give them an M & M? Unfortunately this kind of upside down contrived reinforcement, when a natural reinforcement is logical, possible, and best, occurs far too often. In this case, if possible and appropriate, give the child or tell the child that s/he can have the glass of milk. If not possible, briefly explain why not and either explain to them when they can have a glass of milk or what might be a possible alternative and thank the child for saying “please.”

Supplemental information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinforcement#Natural_and_artificial_reinforcement

Natural Reinforcement: Parenting that Lasts

Teaching Your Child To Work

2010-11-22T17:49:00.000-08:00

One of the greatest gifts a parent can give their child is the ability and the tenacity to work. There is an old saying that “it’s a lazy parent who does everything for their child.” This includes all but the youngest babies, the most seriously disabled or ill. Work is one of the ways children learn efficacy. Efficacy is an important component of resilience and is an important factor in overcoming stress.

When children are young, they are often anxious to help their parents. Unfortunately many see this as too much bother; however, there are many things even young children can do in moderation as long as it is safe.

My oldest son was fascinated by the vacuum. We didn’t take advantage of this by making him vacuum the whole house; but we did let him, from a young age vacuum small parts of the house (even if someone had to go over the same area again at a later time when he wasn’t around).

Children also need to be taught to do things on their own and for themselves even when they do not want to. Even fairly young children can learn to put away their toys and even some of their clothes. Work can be fun and it can be done cooperatively with other family members to increase family unity and responsibility.

Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.
Thomas A. Edison

Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.
Theodore Roosevelt

Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all.
Sam Ewing

Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.
Anne Frank

Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work.
Booker T. Washington

Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them.
Ann Landers

Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.
Peter Drucker

The harder I work, the luckier I get.
Samuel Goldwyn

The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work.
Harry Golden

"All true Work is sacred; in all true Work, were it but but hand-labour, there is something of divineness. Labor, wide as the Earth, has it's summit in Heaven."
Thomas Carlyle

Supplemental Material:
Teach Your Child to Work Hard Without Complaining

Teaching Children To Work without Complaining!!!

Teach Your Kids Work Ethic

NEVERTHELESS: One of the magic words of parenting

2010-11-20T11:20:00.001-08:00

One of the mistakes parents often make not only with their teenage children; but with younger children as well is to get into arguments. While it is important to explain things to children and to have open dialogue, it is equally important to avoid arguments. If your objective it to help your children become responsible efficacious adults with good social skills, high morals and strong work ethics, every time you get into an argument, you loose and ultimately, so do they.

Before you get into the argument, you will want to teach your children and explain boundaries and expectations. If you have already done that on multiple occasions where the child/teen has already had many honest and safe opportunities to truly express themselves and ask questions and where possible you have found the ability to compromise or find appropriate ways and times to say “yes” then it is much easier when potential arguments ensue. When the appropriate groundwork has been laid and you are genuinely open to the possibility to alter SOME rules in some situations where it may be appropriate, and your child/teen has leaned to trust you and the relationship; it is much easier when necessary to simply divert the argument by simply saying: “nevertheless”…

For example: after pleading to stay out until 1:A.M. or 2:A.M., your response can simply be: “nevertheless, your curfew on Friday nights is midnight.” Or after your teen has stayed out until after midnight and returned late and starts to explain that the movie wasn’t over or whatever: “nevertheless your curfew on Friday nights is midnight and now your consequence is”…

There is no reason for you to be angry or for your teen to be surprised if you are consistent. In the long term scheme of things, it is a win/win scenario.

There is another, almost opposite use for the magic word “nevertheless” in parenting.

As your children grown and mature, they need to learn to be responsible for developmentally appropriate decisions and the consequences of those decisions.

After explaining your thoughts, beliefs, and feelings on a matter, turn the question back to the child and say “nevertheless” you are free to choose.

Obviously there are limits to the decisions where your child is free to choose, according to the child’s age and maturity as stated previously (with some dangerous and illegal options remaining off limits); however, children and teens need to learn to make choices and also accept the responsibility of those choices if you hope for them to be able to make good responsible choices as adults.

The Power of Yes in Parenting

2010-11-19T17:07:00.001-08:00

The Power of Yes in parenting does not mean that you are an overly permissive parent or one who can not set boundaries. Effectively using the power of yes can really be a matter of timing and perspective. Many children hear “no” over and over again; but a “yes” is infinitely more powerful, hopeful, and efficacy building, than a “no.”

For example: when a child asks to go play and you know they have homework or a chore to do, instead of saying “no,” you need to do….. try saying “yes” as soon as you have done …

If it’s something that will require additional skills or maturity, talk with them about what needs to occur in their life before the answer will be “yes” then tell them, when those things have occurred, “yes” they can.

Again, this does not mean that there is a “yes” to everything.

For example to the question, “can I go over to my friend’s and do meth?” The answer is always a resounding “no” with an explanation of the dangers (and perhaps a conversation with law enforcement and/or the friend’s parent if you have reason to believe the friend is in possession of and/or providing meth to others). You will also want to have a discussion of the underlying reasons why s/he wants to go over to a friends to do meth, what alternative appropriate activity might provide the same or similar results (for the underlying appropriate need ie friendship) and a “yes” to the alternative activity. Sometimes the underlying need may require some additional skills, resources and assistance. If you need help, get help. For example: if the underlying need is to feel accepted and have friends. Help your child become involved in more appropriate activities and develop relationships with more appropriate friends. Sometimes this may require some social skill training. Your school counselor or a religious leader may be able to help.

Supplemental Materials:

Just Say Yes: The Power of Positive Parenting

http://www.babyzone.com/toddler/toddler_development/discipline/article/positive-parenting-power

Reed Galin: The Power of 'Yes'

http://www.beliefnet.com/Video/Parenting/Reed-Galin-The-Power-Of-Yes.aspx

Color Think Tank - the psychology of color

2010-11-19T13:41:00.000-08:00

Color Think Tank - the psychology of color: "Our personal and cultural associations affect our experience of color. Colors are seen as warm or cool mainly because of long-held (and often universal) associations. Yellow, orange and red are associated with the heat of sun and fire; blue, green and violet with the coolness of leaves, sea and the sky. Warm colors seem closer to the viewer than cool colors, but vivid cool colors can overwhelm light and subtle warm colors. Using warm colors for foreground and cool colors for background enhances the perception of depth."

Color psychology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2010-11-19T13:40:00.001-08:00

Color psychology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Inherent difficulties in properly controlling trials of color's effect on humans mean that a subject's expectations and cultural bias cannot be ruled out. Moreover, much evidence is anecdotal (e.g. the blue street lighting case) or based on data that includes confounders (e.g. the shirt-color correlation). Chromotherapy, a form of alternative medicine, is based on the hypothesis that distinct colors have health effects[10] unrelated to the aforementioned placebo effect. Such profound claims are the subject of skepticism and are often regarded as pseudoscience."

Colors and Moods

2010-11-19T13:40:00.000-08:00

Colors and Moods: "Color, without our realizing it, can have a profound effect on how we feel both mentally and physically. Dr. Morton Walker, in his book The Power of Color, suggested that the ancient Egyptians as well as the Native American Indians used color and colored light to heal. Below are some emotional associations that humans tend to have with certain colors. These are important to keep in mind in order to create the mood you are seeking."

Color: Meaning, Symbolism and Psychology

2010-11-19T13:39:00.000-08:00

Color: Meaning, Symbolism and Psychology: "Our reaction to color is instantaneous and this lens is a quick look at general responses based on research, historical significance of color and word association studies.

I have also included links to color personality tests that may give you some insight into your own color associations as well as how you react to different colors."

Color Psychology - The Psychology of Color

2010-11-19T13:37:00.000-08:00

Color Psychology - The Psychology of Color: "Color Psychology as Therapy
Several ancient cultures, including the Egyptians and Chinese, practiced chromotherapy, or using colors to heal. Chromotherapy is sometimes referred to as light therapy or colourology and is still used today as a holistic or alternative treatment.
In this treatment:
Red was used to stimulate the body and mind and to increase circulation.

Yellow was thought to stimulate the nerves and purify the body.

Orange was used to heal the lungs and to increase energy levels.

Blue was believed to soothe illnesses and treat pain.

Indigo shades were thought to alleviate skin problems."

Psychology Of Color

2010-11-19T13:36:00.000-08:00

Psychology Of Color: "Color is a meaningful constant for sighted people and it's a powerful psychological tool. By using color psychology, you can send a positive or negative message, encourage sales, calm a crowd, or make an athlete pump iron harder.
Employ the latest color psychology in all facets of marketing and particularly in logo design, web site design, the cover of a book, or the package of a product.
The field of industrial psychology has a sub-field that studies only the psychology of color. It is no accident that Campbell's soup has used the same four colors on their labels for years and years. When I mentioned that product, I'll bet an image of that label popped into your head."

Working Paper #9: Persistent Fear and Anxiety Can Affect Young Children’s Learning and Development

2010-11-16T16:45:00.000-08:00

Working Paper #9: Persistent Fear and Anxiety Can Affect Young Children’s Learning and Development: "Ensuring that young children have safe, secure environments in which to grow, learn, and develop healthy brains and bodies is not only good for the children themselves but also builds a strong foundation for a thriving, prosperous society. Science shows that early exposure to circumstances that produce persistent fear and chronic anxiety can have lifelong consequences by disrupting the developing architecture of the brain. Unfortunately, many young children are exposed to such circumstances. This report from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child summarizes in clear language why, while some of these experiences are one-time events and others may reoccur or persist over time, all of them have the potential to affect how children learn, solve problems, and relate to others."

Nightmares: Causes and help for children with nightmares

2010-11-15T16:38:00.000-08:00

You have to know who you are, if you don't you have nightmares.
Stephen Rea

Some nightmares are fairly normal for young children and often originate from fears, anxiety, and misunderstanding. Usually these are fairly typical and are sometimes caused by immature and inadequate processing and understanding of what is and has gone on in the child’s life. Sometimes nightmares arise from trauma or more significant anxiety or stressors. In these cases, responsible adults need to do what they can to reduce the turmoil causing this, and likely other problems for the child. Sometimes the nightmares arise from the viewing of inappropriate entertainment. This viewing, even on an occasional basis can cause behavioral and psychological problems beyond the nightmare or even night terror. Terminate the viewing or even hearing of these types of entertainment completely. That usually means that when the child is in the house, you don’t watch it either because you don’t know what the child may hear or if the child may get up for some reason and you certainly don’t want to be punitive of your child for getting up in the night on an irregular basis for brief periods of time because they feel they need you.

When there is trauma in the life of the child, even if only witnessed, eliminating the trauma and processing through play therapy can be very beneficial.
For simple, common nightmares, helping your child to reframe the nightmare into an empowering process through lucid dreaming can be very helpful.
As soon as the child has the nightmare, have them tell you about it and then ask them if they could change something about the dream to make it more pleasant, such as imagining the scary wolf to be a small friendly puppy. When my oldest was about five, she was having bad dreams about dark shadowy ghosts. We talked about it and since she had seen cartoons of Casper the Friendly Ghost, I asked if she could imagine the ghosts in her dream looked like Casper. She matter of factly responded and said “no” they are pink. That was the end of the problem.

Supplemental material:
Sleep Hygiene

Nightmares and Night Terrors in Children

Nightmares: Children’s WebMD

How to stop nightmares in children

Nightmare Remedies: Helping Your Child Tame the Demons of the Night

Stress HELPING YOUR CHILDREN (and you) THROUGH TIMES OF STRESS

Autism, Anxiety and Nightmares

LDS Parent: Taming Nightmares

Decisions Determine Destiny

2010-11-13T09:28:00.000-08:00

Have you ever watched someone do something really stupid or really bad on television or in the theatre and thought to yourself or said to a friend ‘that was really stupid, or I would never do that!’

Have you ever seen or heard about a co-worker, friend, or family member doing something similar and had a similar response?
Do you ever wonder how someone could ever get themselves ‘in that situation?’ Then say or think to yourself, it would never happen to me.
Sometimes people find themselves in absolutely horrible situations for absolutely no fault of their own; but sometimes, even often, it is an incremental step by step process. It’s not usually the major decisions or mistakes that get us into a lot of trouble; but the little day by day even hour by hour decisions we make. It’s the small decisions that provide practice and direction for the big ones. It’s the decisions we make before the big ones have to be made that to a great extent, determine our destiny.
It is the small day to day decisions that determine, for the most part, who your associates will be, what kind of environments you will be in, what kind of opportunities you will have, and if you will be able to make the most of the opportunities which occur. It is the same for your children. When we come to understand this, and make the best small decisions possible, the really tough decisions become easier and we find ourselves in fewer situations beyond our control.
Remember, oftentimes, the little, sometimes just a little rebellious or just a little naughty, decisions we make now to demonstrate how free we are, diminish our freedoms and choices in the future.
On the other hand, decisions to: study hard, take responsibility, learn and follow the rules, act with dignity and respect and treat everyone the same way, even when no one else notices, usually creates more opportunities and greater freedom in the future.
For example, NASA astronauts have had very strict guidelines for learning, health, and behavior. They have had to do things which some might consider confining and restrictive, and yet many have had the freedom to do things, literally out of this world.

Sometimes parents rescue their children from the consequences of their little mistakes. I'm not suggesting overly harsh punishments for slight infractions; but the simple lessons which come from the natural consequences of little mistakes. For example: a five year old spills their milk, there's no need to make a big deal cry or yell about it, just simply had them a wash cloth and lovingly ask them to clean it up. Give them instructions if necessary and be patient to make sure they get it done. These simple lessons, even though they may take you a little longer than it would take for you to clean it up yourself, means everything in the long run and will probably save you and your child a enormous amount of time and heartache in the future.

EVERYONE, except perhaps the most severely intellectually disabled, have opportunities to make little decisions and it’s the little decisions that make all the difference.

For additional information, type in: Decisions Determine Destiny in either of the search engines below.

Hiding

2010-11-10T16:27:00.001-08:00

Hiding is a behavior sometimes associated with an anxiety disorder and past or recurring trauma. Hiding is more than just exhibiting shyness. It is the ability to disappear in plain sight and in a group, even a small group in a small room. It is sometimes learned as a coping mechanism used to disappear in the face of trauma when escape is impossible or at the least extremely difficult.

It is not the same as learned helplessness where a person simply gives up and gives in. It is a purposeful coping mechanism.
This is not just the typical child playing hide and go seek or just hiding for fun. That is very typical behavior. This is the child who seems to be able to just disappear and be forgotten.
This MAY be a behavior to be concerned with and talk with your physician or a mental health professional about.

Study: ‘Hyper-Texting’ Teens More Likely to Have Had Sex, Tried Drugs – TIME Healthland

2010-11-09T11:13:00.000-08:00

Study: ‘Hyper-Texting’ Teens More Likely to Have Had Sex, Tried Drugs – TIME Healthland: "Teens who send more than 120 texts a day are more likely to have had sex or used alcohol or illegal drugs than peers who text less, according to a study conducted at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. These 'hyper-texters' were also more likely to get into physical fights, binge drink and misuse prescription drugs.
Despite the suggestive findings, researchers are quick to stress that they do not show that texting causes risky behavior, the Associated Press reports. Rather it may have more to do with peer pressure and lack of parental oversight."

Better and more effective intervention for much less money, commonly as little as 20% of what is often currently being spent.

2010-11-08T17:09:00.001-08:00

Evidence Based Family Centered Practice, sometimes called Coaching and sometimes provided through P.L.A.Y.; but which comes in many effective and proven forms and models, which include contextualized routine based intervention is very often the most effective and cost efficient intervention for children with developmental disabilities and/or mental health concerns. All of these variations require extensive family involvement and responsibility; but generally speaking only minor alterations in environment and schedule, especially for parents who normally wish to spend both quality and quantity time with their children. The biggest difference isn’t so much of what you do; but how you do it, and how you interact to enhance your child’s best behavior, functional skills, and relationships.

Frequently the best intervention to accomplish these outcomes is through consultation and education with limited direct interaction between the therapist and the child and more interaction between the parent and child with some observation, consultation, and even demonstration on the part of the therapist.

CDC - Frequently Asked Questions - Alcohol

2010-11-08T16:48:00.000-08:00

CDC - Frequently Asked Questions - Alcohol: "Alcohol affects every organ in the body. It is a central nervous system depressant that is rapidly absorbed from the stomach and small intestine into the bloodstream. Alcohol is metabolized in the liver by enzymes; however, the liver can only metabolize a small amount of alcohol at a time, leaving the excess alcohol to circulate throughout the body. The intensity of the effect of alcohol on the body is directly related to the amount consumed."

Alcohol: MedlinePlus

2010-11-08T16:43:00.000-08:00

Alcohol: MedlinePlus: "Anything more than moderate drinking can be risky. Binge drinking - drinking five or more drinks at one time - can damage your health and increase your risk for accidents, injuries and assault. Years of heavy drinking can lead to liver disease, heart disease, cancer and pancreatitis. It can also cause problems at home, at work and with friends."

President of UCC issues alcohol warning | Irish Examiner

2010-11-08T16:36:00.000-08:00

President of UCC issues alcohol warning Irish Examiner: "It is estimated that one person dies in Ireland every seven hours from alcohol- related illness, drink is a factor in almost one-third of emergency department visits and 2,000 hospital beds are occupied by patients with drink-related illnesses.

The UCC boss said attitudes might be different if people were more aware that alcohol is more damaging to society than smoking or any other drug, which was highlighted in the Lancet journal this week."

Parenting a Child with Depression

2010-11-01T17:13:00.000-07:00

Depression is a complicated illness/disorder.

Sometimes it is characterized by huge mood swings such as for someone with Bi-Polar or Manic Depression
Sometimes it can be a so called low grade chronic depression which is called Dysthymia, or a chronic Major Depression.
Sometimes it can be caused primarily by a chemical imbalance and sometime by stress and more often a combination of the two. In most cases it is partly biological, partly environmental, and partly behavioral. It can manifest itself in withdrawal, fatigue, loss of interest, and difficulty in concentration (among other symptoms) or it can manifest itself in anger and aggression.
Depression often co-occurs with developmental disabilities, physical disabilities and disease, substance abuse, and/or mental health disorders.
Fortunately, in most cases, when diagnosed and treated correctly, depression is easily treatable. There was a time, not so very long ago when it was believed young children could not suffer from depression. That time has past; young children can suffer from depression.

One of the most significant predictors of depressions in an infant is maternal depression. There is appropriate treatment for both the parent and the child. As with most mood or behavioral disorders in children, there is a logical sequence of treatment, with direct treatment for the child being the last option unless the child is in a life threatening situation. When possible, setting events, environmental issues, attachment, nutrition, sleep, hygene, and relationships should be evaluated and ameliorated as needed first, before directly treating or at least as, the child is being directly treated.

Supplemental Materials:

DYSTHYMIC DISORDER
http://www.mentalhealth.com/dis/p20-md04.html

Dysthymic Disorder
http://www.allaboutdepression.com/dia_04.html

Depression in children
http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=114&np=141&id=1920

When Parents Are Depressed
http://www.healthyplace.com/depression/children/when-parents-are-depressed/menu-id-68/

Parenting a Child with Depression
http://www.healthyplace.com/parenting/depression/parenting-child-with-depression/menu-id-61/

Depression (major depression) Definition by Mayo Clinic Staff
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/depression/DS00175

For additional information please use the Google Parenting and Scholar search engines below.

The behavior we allow is the behavior we get - Corrections News

2010-11-01T16:37:00.000-07:00

The behavior we allow is the behavior we get - Corrections News: "What do libraries and museums have that prisons and bars don't?
Why are some schools, jails, and emergency rooms more violent than others? Why are some sections of a prison more violent than others, even though the conditions are identical? It may have something to do with social contracts.
No one would be shocked to see a fight in a tavern, at a major league baseball game, or even in an emergency room. But is there anything that could be done to lower the levels of violence in these places? Most likely the answer is yes.
Have you ever seen a fight in a library? I spend a lot of time in libraries and I’ve never seen one. In fact, I’ve never heard so much as a heated argument in a library. I have, however, witnessed loud arguments, loud offensive cursing, and even fist fights in gas stations, grocery stores, department stores, fast food joints, doctor’s offices, hospitals, and taverns. But I’ve never seen such behavior at a museum, a church or a library."

Parenting, Behaviors, and Sleep. Sleep: a common setting event for inappropriate behaviors.

2010-10-31T07:40:00.000-07:00

Inconsistent sleep patterns, restless sleep, or other problems related to sleep can be the or one of the root causes of many problems. Sleep problems are one of many common setting events which can cause or worsen inappropriate or poor behavior. Sleep is also one possible contributor of depression, stress, and aggression.

For more about getting a good nights sleep, for both you and your child, click here.

Sleep Hygiene: How to get a good night’s sleep.

2010-10-31T07:28:00.000-07:00

Most of this information is for adults; however, some is applicable to children. Information more specific to children is linked below.

Reduce stress as much as possible

* Set a sleep schedule and keep it within ½ hour every night of the week, with the exception of one or two nights when you may stay up later. If you have to work a rotating shift schedule, then keep a schedule according to your shift. (Rotating work schedules have their problems and should be avoided when possible.) Do not nap. Keeping a regular schedule helps to condition your body to expect sleep at certain times. Young children can have naps, Infants must have frequent naps and Toddlers should have naps. Children should stick with the same schedule, within a ½ hour variance as much as possible seven days a week.

* Early to bed early to rise. There is a lot of wisdom in the old adage. Even though some people are just not morning people, for some, this can help their sleep patterns.

* Avoid sleeping too much or too little. At least a couple of times a week you should stay in bed until you wake up without an alarm, and then don’t just lie in bed. Again you want to condition your body that bed is for sleeping, not just lying around.

* Bed is for sleeping and for adults certain pleasurable activities, nothing else.

* Do not watch TV in your bedroom or use it as an office or for a computer room. This is also part of conditioning your mind and body.

* Avoid stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine. Remember chocolate and many soda pops have caffeine. (If you must eat or drink chocolate, do not do it within 4 hours of going to bed.)

* Keep refined sugar to a minimum and do not consume refined sugar within 4 hours of going to bed.

* Avoid alcohol, while it may help you to get to sleep, it will make it more difficult to get a good night’s sleep.

* Seep in a cool (not cold) room and warm (not hot) comfortable bed. Try wearing socks to bed (unless your feet are too hot) and in extreme situations where you have chronically cold hands, try mittens. Your body needs to regulate your temperature before you can get to sleep.

* Keep up a good exercise routine, but not within four hours of bed time. Stretching, yoga, deep breathing, are good right before bed.

* Create a relaxing bedtime routine and stick with it. This can last from 30 minutes to an hour. It can include stretching, yoga, warm bath, deep breathing, relaxing music, and reading. Avoid stressful activities and conversations right before going to bed or in bed.

* Do not eat a large meal before 4 hours of going to bed. Light snack right before bed, i.e.., warm milk, banana, just a little turkey (no preservatives). Avoid spicy food right before bed and possibly discontinue altogether if you continue to have problems.

* Make sure you get good exposure to natural light. People who do not get outside often, are helped by getting the sunlight though the window. Natural light helps to maintain a healthy sleep cycle.

* Eliminate light, and distracting noise as much as possible. Sometimes quiet relaxing music or nature sounds can be helpful. Sometimes a comforting sound from the past can also be helpful. I find the light sound of a distant train very relaxing. If you enjoy it, baroque music is very conducive to a good night’s sleep. (Specific music suggestions can be found on the stress reduction page)

* Do not ruminate (obsess) over issues that cause you stress right before or at bedtime.

* If you do everything or most of the things mentioned here and do not fall asleep within 20 to 25 minutes, get up and do something relaxing for 30 to 45 minutes and then try again. If you wake up in the night and do not fall back to sleep within 20 to 25 minutes, get up and do something relaxing for 30 to 45 minutes then try again.

* Consult with your physician if you have chronic sleeping problems (either too much or too little sleep, 8 hours is average for adults) or chronic pain that keeps you awake. If you are taking medications, speak with your physician about possible side effects that may cause sleep problems. Ask your physician if the medication can be switched to a different time of the day and if that might help.

* Avoid sleeping pills if possible. If necessary, consult your physician.

* Even if you do not get a good nights sleep, get up at your scheduled time. If you get less than 4 hours of sleep for three nights in a row or less than 2 hours of sleep for two nights in a row, consult your physician. If you sleep but do not feel rested on a chronic basis, even after you have tried these adjustments, consult your physician. You may have a serious sleep disorder such as apnea.

Additional techniques: Consult your physician before doing these (this is not just an idle disclaimer; you really must consult your physician before doing these). These can be used in bed to help you to train yourself to go to sleep.

* Deep breathing and simple counting. Try taking in a very deep breath in (through your nose), expanding your stomach, and then breathing out through your mouth. Count as you do this, perhaps to the beat of your heart, try to get to the point where you have three or four heart beats as you breath in and three or four as you breath out.

* Muscle tightening/relaxing and deep breathing. Start at your toes, curl them and tighten them while breathing in deeply. Relax your toes and breathe out. Flex your foot while breathing in deeply, then relax and breathe out. Push the heals of your feed into your bed while breathing in deeply, then relax and breathe out. Continue to do the same while tightening your calf muscles, then your thigh muscles, then your buttocks then while pushing your hands down, then tightening your shoulders then pushing your head down into your pillow. Do all of these on your back.

* Walking down stairs. Imagine yourself starting at the top of a beautiful bluff, overlooking a gorgeous ocean beach. Imagine there is a gentle and safe decline with stairs and a railing on both sides. Perhaps a gentle warm breeze. Imagine what it looks like and what it sounds and smells and feels like. Now imagine that the top step is number 200. One at a time walk down the stairs, stopping at each stair to say (in your mind) the next number, 199, 198 etc. Imagine how the smells, sights and sounds and feel changes at each step. See if you can make it all the way to the bottom while staying awake.

* Nightmares. If you can just let it go and forget about the dream, do so. If you can not, imagine how you could be empowered to make everything well. What could happen in the dream to make everything better. When my oldest daughter was young she used to have bad dreams about ghosts that would wake her up and then she would wake us up. They were menacing shadows. I asked her if she could imagine that the ghost was friendly and white like Casper. She said “no, pink Ghost” and that was the end of it. It rarely works this easily but you can take control of your dreams to create a more relaxing and pleasant ending.

* Do not worry about doing all these suggestions perfectly. Just do your best and do better the next time.

Allow a month of consistent effort and practice for significant improvement.

Supplemental materials (Much of this information is more specific to children):
Regardless of what may be written on the websites, avoid caffeine, sugar, and simple carbohydrates (most breads, crackers, etc.) within four hours of bedtime. Be careful with herbs, it is possible to overdose on some, be especially careful with children. Check with your physician before giving herbs to a child.

Melatonin: Natural food and non-food sources of melatonin

Foods for sleep

Child Sleep: Recommended hours for every age

All about sleep

Sleep problems

TEACHING/EDUCATION A few of the things you need to teach your children: Overview.

2010-10-30T15:48:00.000-07:00

"Consider the spiritual needs of your children. How much time is necessary to be certain you are being close to them? It is your responsibility as fathers and mothers to provide adequate time to teach them, for the most important instruction children will ever receive should come from their parents."

L. Tom Perry

Playdough Story

2010-10-27T19:58:00.000-07:00

Behavior Overview - for Parents

2010-10-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

Supplemental Materials:
Center on the Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning

The behavior we allow is the behavior we get

Better and more effective intervention for much less money, commonly as little as 20% of what is often currently being spent.

Study: ‘Hyper-Texting’ Teens More Likely to Have Had Sex, Tried Drugs

Persistent Fear and Anxiety Can Affect Young Children’s Learning and Development

Eating Disorders (Bulimia)

2010-10-23T18:27:00.000-07:00

Eating Disorders (Bulimia): "Eating Disorders
What is an eating disorder?
An eating disorder can be bulimia or anorexia nervosa, and those are the two most common ones. It's basically where food rules your life, and rather than you eat because you're hungry. It takes on an unhealthy importance in your life."

Eating Disorders Part 1

2010-10-23T18:25:00.000-07:00

eating disorders

2010-10-23T18:15:00.000-07:00

Parenting a Child with an Eating Disorder

2010-10-23T17:57:00.000-07:00

Eating disorders can be very serious. I have a family member who had an eating disorder which was very dangerous and which caused a great deal of concern. Eating issues have been a significant problem in my family for at least half a century.

Eat healthy, provide healthy foods for your children. Engage in healthy exercise and recreational activities. Do not provide or allow a lot of junk food in your home. Do not call your children fat; but emphasis healthy eating and a healthy body, which is not ultra thin.

If you or someone you know, may have an eating disorder, seek help. I would recommend seeking professional advice for more than one source; but do it quickly. It can be life threatening and doing the right thing is as important as doing something. What ever you do, do not wait. Talk with your doctor. Talk with the person's doctor. Speak with a mental health professional; but do it quickly. It may be more sever that you believe.
A great deal of additional information is provided through supplemental materials below.

For additional information; please use the Google Parenting and Scholar search engines at the bottom of this page. You can also find a treatment/therapy search engine at the bottom of: http://www.bestoutcomes.blogspot.com/

Supplemental Material:
Parenting a Child with an addiction.
Beauty Is Only Skin Deep
Health and Nutrition for the Family
Healthy Eating For Children Without Breaking The Bank!
Building a Healthy Body Image in Children
Healthy body image: Tips for guiding girls
Perfect Illusions . A Healthy Body Image
eating disorders This video is pretty raw, may be offensive for some; however it has a powerful message.
Eating Disorders Part 1
Eating Disorders What is an eating disorder?
An eating disorder can be bulimia or anorexia nervosa, and those are the two most common ones. It's basically where food rules your life, and rather than you eat because you're hungry. It takes on an unhealthy importance in your life. Click on the link, then the link within the link to view the video or read the information.
Eating Disorder Treatment
Eating Disorder Treatment and Recovery: Help for Anorexia and Bulimia
Eating disorders - MayoClinic.com

Beauty Is Only Skin Deep

2010-10-23T17:43:00.000-07:00

LDS Church News - From fear to hope, overcoming pornography addiction is possible

2010-10-23T14:48:00.000-07:00

LDS Church News - From fear to hope, overcoming pornography addiction is possible: "Steven Croshaw was 36 when he determined he could no longer live a double life.
He had hidden his addiction to pornography from his wife, Rhyll, and their family for years. Now he had made up his mind; he was determined to come forward. It was the hardest thing he had ever done"

Parenting a Child with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

2010-10-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is neither clearly a developmental disability or a mental health issue; but a physical disability with typical attributes of both mental health and developmental disability.

One of the frequently direct results of FAS is poor impulse control. Currently there are societies in this world where it is estimated at as much as 10% of the children have FAS. Can you imagine what it would be like to have a society with 10% of its population with poor impulse control?

While there are typical facial features of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, other aspects of the syndrome, including the poor impulse control can be present without the facial features.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is causes by a mother drinking alcohol while she is pregnant. The damage to the new baby depends on the amount of alcohol the mother drinks and the developmental stage of her unborn baby. A larger amount of alcohol consumed one week, may cause less damage than a small amount just a few weeks later. Any alcohol consumption by a pregnant mother is like playing Russian roulette with her baby.

Like with many disorders, there are varying degrees of severity with a less sever form sometimes being called Fetal Alcohol Effect. While this disorder, especially in its most severe forms is very difficult to treat, it is not entirely impossible to at least ameliorate some of the symptoms.

Supplemental Materials:

Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse & Addictions (CASAA)
http://casaa.unm.edu/index.html
At one time, CASAA had the foremost experts in treating FAS, they may still have.

College Drinking, Changing the Culture
http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/

Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and the BRAIN
http://www.come-over.to/FAS/FASbrain.htm

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
http://www.fasdcenter.samhsa.gov/

Fetal Alcohol Effects
http://specialchildren.about.com/od/gettingadiagnosis/g/FAE.htm

Downs Syndrome

2010-10-19T13:41:00.000-07:00

I won’t rewrite the basic information about Downs Syndrome here, there are others who have done it better than I can and I am linking to them.

What you will find here are links to information and best practice treatment. A couple of the links are written specifically for Autism; however, I have included them because the basic principles are very similar. Currently there is more information about the behavioral treatment of Autism than Downs; however, there is some information specific to Downs and there is a great deal of medical information available.
Unfortunately there are a number of medical conditions which are frequently concurrent with Downs Syndrome. You will also find medical information linked from this posting.

Supplemental Materials:

National Down Syndrome Society
http://www.ndss.org/

What is Down Syndrome? What Causes It?
http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/genetic/down_syndrome.html
Down Syndrome (Mayo Clinic)
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/down-syndrome/DS00182

Downs Syndrome Medical Issues
http://www.ds-health.com/

Down syndrome: Medline Plus
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000997.htm

What are the Medical Problems Associated with Down Syndrome?
http://www.downsyn.com/whatmed.php

Benefits to Down's syndrome children through training their mothers.
http://adc.bmj.com/content/50/5/383.abstract
Abstract
This study investigated the hypothesis that training of mothers with Down's syndrome children would be beneficial both to the child and parents. The mothers were taught behaviour modification techniques based on learning theory and were given group discussions on dealing with their family or personal problems. The subjects were 16 mothers with a Down's syndrome child, divided into two groups on the basis of their child's sex and chronological and mental ages. The Griffiths Scale was used for assessment. The mothers in the treatment group received 12 sessions of training and group counseling over a 6-month period, whereas the control mothers received no additional attention except the usual routine from the general practitioner and health visitor. The result show clear gains to both the child and mother in the treatment group. The child improved, especially in language development as well as in the other areas, and the mother-gained more confidence and competence in her daily management of the child.

A Longitudinal Study of Children with Down Syndrome Who Experienced Early Intervention Programming
http://physicaltherapyjournal.com/content/73/3/170.short

Effectiveness of early intervention for children with Down syndrome
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2779(1996)2:2%3C96::AID-MRDD7%3E3.0.CO;2-V/abstract
Abstract
This article reviews studies evaluating the effectiveness of early intervention for children with Down syndrome. Evaluation of early intervention programs is difficult and challenging, given the wide variety of experimental designs and the limitations of research studies. Overall, however, positive changes were seen in the development of children who were exposed to early intervention programs. Children with Down syndrome and their families are likely to benefit from early intervention.

Family Stress and Adjustment as Perceived by Parents of Children with Autism or Down Syndrome: Implications for Intervention
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a903869522
Abstract
This study examined stress and adjustment in parents of three groups of families: those with an autistic child, those with a Down syndrome child, and those with only developmentally normal children. A total of 54 families participated, with 18 representing each group. Parents of autistic children generally reported more family stress and adjustment problems than parents of children with Down Syndrome who, in turn, reported more stress and adjustment problems than parents of developmentally normal children. Although parents of disabled children reported more stress associated with caring for their child, they generally showed resilience in adjusting to the presence of a severely disabled family member. Implications for family intervention are discussed.

THE RECOGNITION OF AUTISM IN CHILDREN WITH DOWN SYNDROME-IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERVENTION AND SOME SPECULATIONS ABOUT PATHOLOGY
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8749.1995.tb12024.x/abstract
SUMMARY
Although autism can occur in conjunction with a range of other conditions, the association with Down syndrome is generally considered to be relatively rare. Four young boys with Down syndrome are described who were also autistic. All children clearly fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for autism required by the ICD-10 or DSM-IM-R, but in each case the parents had faced considerable difficulties in obtaining this diagnosis. Instead, the children's problems had been attributed to their cognitive delays, despite the fact that their behaviour and general progress differed from other children with Down syndrome in many important aspects. The implications, for both families and children, of the failure to diagnose autism when it co-occurs with other conditions such as Down syndrome are discussed. Some speculations about possible pathological associations are also presented.

Vocabulary Intervention for Children with Down Syndrome: Parent Training Using Focused Stimulation.
http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ568724&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ568724
Abstract
This study explored effects of training six mothers to use focused stimulation to teach specific target words to their toddlers with Down syndrome. Following treatment, trained mothers used the focused stimulation technique more often than mothers in the control group. Concomitantly, their children used target words more often, as reported by parents and observation of free play. (Author/DB)

Best Practice, Better Outcomes: How to write Measurable Behavioral Objectives, Goals, &, Plans
http://www.bestoutcomes.blogspot.com/

Is it Funny Now? Will it be Funny When?

2010-09-28T17:06:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest mistakes parents make is when they laugh and give extra attention to inappropriate behavior from their children. Some times this comes in the form of a two year old learning to flip someone off or calling their mother or father an obscene name.
Will it still be funny as they grow older and do it in school, work, or it's directed towards you?
Remember: what we focus on increases.

Conveying Meaning Through Language and Metaphor

2010-09-25T21:33:00.000-07:00

There are two primary reasons for this posting.
1. As mentioned previously, there are both significant differences and slight nuances between cultures, including the seemingly slight cultural differences found in almost any community in the industrialized world.
2. Communicating with even your own children, may not be as simple as some might believe. In a real sense, children often, if not usually, have a culture unique from their parents.

Many years ago while supervision child protection, I learned to communicate with parents in words and metaphor familiar to them. For example: I remember working with a family who many would consider backwards; but who were familiar with animals and the difficulties of raising and even keeping certain kinds of animals alive. When I really needed to communicate an important point, I made special effort to use words which they were familiar with and used examples which they could most easily relate to.
Another family I worked with had a son who had done some very inappropriate things. At first there was a lack of understanding of the severity; but because they were the same religion as I, without mentioning religion, I was able to use vocabulary which would convey the powerful and urgent message I needed them to understand.
In contrast, there was a worker on the team who would commonly use vocabulary with children that children did not understand.

When communicating with your children, or your spouse, use words and metaphors which they will easily understand; however before you do this, you must listen to them and know them well enough to know and understand their language, their interests and passions, and their culture.

"Real listening shows respect. It creates trust. As we listen, we not only gain understanding, we also create the environment to be understood. And when both people understand both perspectives, instead of being on opposite sides of the table looking across at each other, we find ourselves on the same side looking at solutions together". Stephen R. Covey

This does not mean we should never use words which stretch our children's vocabulary. We need to educate and help our children understand the world; however in times when we need to communicate important principles or meaning, we must do it in a way they will best understand.

New initiative sheds light on pornography's impact on families | Deseret News

2010-09-19T07:26:00.000-07:00

New initiative sheds light on pornography's impact on families Deseret News: "Today, 47 percent of families in the United States report that pornography is a problem in their home, according to the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families, an Ohio-based nonprofit organization working to promote Christian values."

Sleep Hygiene: How to get a good night’s sleep.

2010-09-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

Reduce and manage stress as much as possible

* Set a sleep schedule and keep it within ½ hour every night of the week, with the exception of one or two nights when you may stay up later. If you have to work a rotating shift schedule, then keep a schedule according to your shift. (Rotating work schedules have their problems and should be avoided when possible.) Do not nap. Keeping a regular schedule helps to condition your body to expect sleep at certain times. Young children can have naps, Infants must have frequent naps and Toddlers should have naps. Children should stick with the same schedule, within a ½ hour variance as much as possible seven days a week.

* Early to bed early to rise. There is a lot of wisdom in the old adage. Even though some people are just not morning people, for some, this can help their sleep patterns.

* Avoid sleeping too much or too little. At least a couple of times a week you should stay in bed until you wake up without an alarm, and then don’t just lie in bed. Again you want to condition your body that bed is for sleeping, not just lying around.

* Bed is for sleeping and for married adults, certain pleasurable activities, nothing else.

* Do not watch TV in your bedroom or use it as an office or for a computer room. This is also part of conditioning your mind and body.

* Avoid stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine. Remember chocolate and many soda pops have caffeine. (If you must eat or drink chocolate, do not do it within 4 hours of going to bed.)

* Keep refined sugar to a minimum and do not consume refined sugar within 4 hours of going to bed.

* Avoid alcohol, while it may help you to get to sleep, it will make it more difficult to get a good night’s sleep.

* Sleep in a cool (not cold) room and warm (not hot) comfortable bed. Try wearing socks to bed (unless your feet are too hot) and in extreme situations where you have chronically cold hands, try mittens. Your body needs to regulate your temperature before you can get to sleep.

* Keep up a good exercise routine, but not within four hours of bed time. Stretching, yoga, deep breathing, are good right before bed.

* Create a relaxing bedtime routine and stick with it. This can last from 30 minutes to an hour. It can include stretching, yoga, warm bath, deep breathing, and reading. Avoid stressful activities and conversations right before going to bed or in bed.

* Do not eat a large meal before 4 hours of going to bed. Light snack right before bed, i.e.., warm milk, banana, just a little turkey (no preservatives). Avoid spicy food right before bed and possibly discontinue altogether if you continue to have problems. Avoid drinking very much right before bed as it may cause you to have to get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

* Make sure you get good exposure to natural light. People who do not get outside often, are helped by getting the sunlight though the window. Natural light helps to maintain a healthy sleep cycle.

* Eliminate light, and distracting noise as much as possible. Sometimes quiet relaxing music or nature sounds can be helpful. Sometimes a comforting sound from the past can also be helpful. I find the light sound of a distant train very relaxing. If you enjoy it, baroque music is very conducive to a good night’s sleep. (See music suggestions in the stress management posting)

* Do not ruminate over issues that cause you stress right before or at bedtime.

* Do not watch or let your children watch scary movies right before bed if it causes sleep disturbances.

* There are differing opinions about children sleeping with their parents. When they are young and if it is for short periods of time it is usually not a problem. If it becomes a problem, try taking your child back to their bed and lying there with them until they fall asleep then returning to their bed. Try and find out if there is anything frightening them and if so remediate the problem. If they are just missing you, cuddle with them for a while before bed. Read stories as a part of the bedtime routine; but be firm and consistent about bedtime.

* If you do everything or most of the things mentioned here and do not fall asleep within 20 to 25 minutes, get up and do something relaxing for 30 to 45 minutes and then try again. If you wake up in the night and do not fall back to sleep within 20 to 25 minutes, get up and do something relaxing for 30 to 45 minutes.

* Consult with your physician if you have chronic sleeping problems (either too much or too little sleep, 8 hours is average for adults) or chronic pain that keeps you awake. If you are taking medications, speak with your physician about possible side effects that may cause sleep problems. Ask your physician if the medication can be switched to a different time of the day and if that might help.

* Avoid sleeping pills if possible. If necessary, consult your physician.

* Even if you do not get a good nights sleep, get up at your scheduled time. If you get less than 4 hours of sleep for three nights in a row or less than 2 hours of sleep for two nights in a row, consult your physician. If you sleep but do not feel rested on a chronic basis, even after you have tried these adjustments, consult your physician. If you stop breathing while sleeping, consult your physician. You may have a serious sleep disorder such as apnea.

Additional techniques: Consult your physician before doing these (this is not just an idle disclaimer; you really must consult your physician before doing these). These can be used in bed to help you to train yourself to go to sleep.

* Deep breathing and simple counting. Try taking in a very deep breath in (through your nose), expanding your stomach, and then breathing out through your mouth. Count as you do this, perhaps to the beat of your heart, try to get to the point where you have three or four heart beats as you breath in and three or four as you breath out.

* Muscle tightening/relaxing and deep breathing. Start at your toes, curl them and tighten them while breathing in deeply. Relax your toes and breathe out. Flex your foot while breathing in deeply, then relax and breathe out. Push the heals of your feed into your bed while breathing in deeply, then relax and breathe out. Continue to do the same while tightening your calf muscles, then your thigh muscles, then your buttocks then while pushing your hands down, then tightening your shoulders then pushing your head down into your pillow. Do all of these on your back.

* Walking down stairs. Imagine yourself starting at the top of a beautiful bluff, overlooking a gorgeous ocean beach. Imagine there is a gentle and safe decline with stairs and a railing on both sides. Perhaps a gentle warm breeze. Imagine what it looks like and what it sounds and smells and feels like. Now imagine that the top step is number 200. One at a time walk down the stairs, stopping at each stair to say (in your mind) the next number, 199, 198 etc. Imagine how the smells, sights and sounds and feel changes at each step. See if you can make it all the way to the bottom while staying awake.

* Nightmares. If you can just let it go and forget about the dream, do so. If you can not, imagine how you could be empowered to make everything well. What could happen in the dream to make everything better. When my oldest daughter was young she used to have bad dreams about ghosts that would wake her up and then she would wake us up. They were menacing shadows. I asked her if she could imagine that the ghost was friendly and white like Casper. She said “no, pink Ghost” and that was the end of it. It rarely works this easily but you can take control of your dreams to create a more relaxing and pleasant ending.

* Do not worry about doing all these suggestions perfectly. Just do your best and do better the next time.

Allow a month of consistent effort and practice for significant improvement.

Psychological Resiliency After Katrina

2010-09-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

Department of Human Services | Risk and Protective Factors

2010-09-12T10:38:00.000-07:00

Department of Human Services Risk and Protective Factors: "Risk factors include those individual or social factors associated with an increased likelihood of a negative outcome. Risk Factors can be related to biological, behavioral, and social/environmental characteristics. They include characteristics such as family history, depression or residence in neighborhoods where substance abuse is tolerated. Research supports the idea that the more factors that place the child at risk for substance abuse, the more likely it is she or he will experience substance use."

The protective influence of spiritual--religious lifestyle profiles on tobacco use, alcohol use, and gambling. | Goliath Business News

2010-09-12T10:36:00.001-07:00

The protective influence of spiritual--religious lifestyle profiles on tobacco use, alcohol use, and gambling. Goliath Business News: "The costs associated with the use of addictive substances and practices underscore the need for research on protective factors that inhibit use. In this study, the protective influences of various spiritual-religious lifestyle profiles on tobacco smoking, alcohol use, and gambling frequency and expenditures are examined. Among the predominantly Hispanic sample used in the study (N = 249), cluster analysis produced three lifestyle profiles: neither spiritual nor religious, spiritual and religious, and spiritual but not religious. Of these three, the spiritual and religious lifestyle profile exhibited the strongest protective influence across all four dependent measures. Although the exploratory nature of the study precludes definitive recommendations, a number of tentative implications from the findings are drawn."

Protective Factors in Individuals, Families, and Schools | SparkAction

2010-09-12T10:36:00.000-07:00

Protective Factors in Individuals, Families, and Schools SparkAction
"The Add Health study clearly underscores theimportance of connectedness and caring relationships.How can adults be assisted intheir efforts to create caring connections withyouth? Caring relationships and the ability toencourage high expectations and meaningfulopportunities for youth participation are naturalby-products of an adult who is himself orherself healthy. Where can systems and organizationsturn to enhance the health of thehelper the key adults the Add Health studyimpact young people s lives?"

Substance use, religiosity, and other protective factors among Hungarian adolescents

2010-09-12T10:32:00.001-07:00

Abstract

A number of risk factors have emerged as important correlates of adolescent substance use. In addition, research continues to focus on which factors act as mediators protecting adolescents from negative outcomes. One of these protective factors is religiosity, and the focus of this paper is to examine its role in the life of adolescents in postsocialist Hungary, where active religious participation was highly discouraged until a decade ago. The sample of adolescents (N=1240) consists of middle and high school students living in Szeged, Hungary. The calculated odds ratios for the relationship between religiosity, and other protective factors, and substance use revealed that smoking, drinking, and marijuana use among boys and marijuana use only among girls were related to religiosity. Group membership, for example, participation in school clubs, sports clubs, or religious groups, seems to be more important for boys compared with girls. A more careful examination of the protective role of religion in postsocialist Hungary could be extremely important in a country where both adult and adolescent smoking and alcohol use is among the highest in Europe.

Youth Materials of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

2010-09-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

Youth Materials of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: "For the Strength of Youth summarizes standards from scripture and from the writings and teachings of Church leaders. The information in this section was reviewed, accepted, and endorsed by the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is available here and also as a printed pamphlet for the guidance and blessing of the youth of the Church."

New Studies Find Religious Involvement Strengthens Protective Factors | CADCA

2010-09-12T10:28:00.000-07:00

New Studies Find Religious Involvement Strengthens Protective Factors CADCA: "Addressing a recent conference hosted by The Heritage Foundation, Dr. Byron Johnson, Co-Director of the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion, and Dr. Joon Jang, Associate Professor of Sociology, Baylor University, addressed 'The Long-Term Effects of Religious Involvement on Drug Use.'

Presenting at the conference Religious Practice and Civic Life: What the Research Says, held earlier this month in Arlington, VA, Drs. Johnson, and Jang reported findings from a study funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention on the role religion plays in prosocial youth behavior. The findings indicate that religiosity during adolescence and early adulthood strengthens protective factors and weakens risk factors that promote drug use."

IV. Risk and Protective Factors for Sexual Health -- The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Promote Sexual Health and Responsible Sexual Behavior -- NCBI Bookshelf

2010-09-12T10:21:00.000-07:00

IV. Risk and Protective Factors for Sexual Health -- The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Promote Sexual Health and Responsible Sexual Behavior -- NCBI Bookshelf: "Human beings are sexual beings throughout their lives and human sexual development involves many other aspects of development- physical, behavioral, intellectual, emotional, and interpersonal. Human sexual development follows a progression that, within certain ranges, applies to most persons. The challenge of achieving sexual health begins early in life and continues throughout the lifespan. The actions communities and health care professionals must take to support healthy sexual development vary from one stage of development to the next. Children need stable environments, parenting that promotes healthy social and emotional development, and protection from abuse. Adolescents need education, skills training, self-esteem promoting experiences, and appropriate services related to sexuality, along with positive expectations and sound preparation for their future roles as partners in committed relationships and as parents. Adults need continuing education as they achieve sexual maturity--to learn to communicate effectively with their children and partners and to accept continued responsibility for their sexuality, as well as necessary sexual and reproductive health care services."

Parenting a Gifted Child

2010-09-12T07:10:00.000-07:00

Parenting a Gifted Child: "Gifted and talented children confront parents with distinct questions and challenges. How do parents keep gifted youth motivated, advocate for gifted education, and find rigorous programs supporting gifted student interests? When is gifted assessment necessary? What are talent search benefits? Which summer camps are fun and challenging? How do parents help a gifted kid deal with academic competition, perfectionism, and social pressures?"

Alcoholics Anonymous : INFORMATION ON A.A.

2010-09-10T17:51:00.000-07:00

Alcoholics Anonymous : INFORMATION ON A.A.: "Alcoholics Anonymous® is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for AA membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. AA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety"

Welcome to Al-Anon and Alateen

2010-09-10T17:50:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Al-Anon and Alateen: "For over 55 years, Al-Anon (which includes Alateen for younger members) has been offering strength and hope for friends and families of problem drinkers. It is estimated that each alcoholic affects the lives of at least four other people... alcoholism is truly a family disease. No matter what relationship you have with an alcoholic, whether they are still drinking or not, all who have been affected by someone else’s drinking can find solutions that lead to serenity in the Al-Anon/Alateen fellowship."

NREPP | Home

2010-09-10T17:47:00.000-07:00

NREPP Home: "NREPP is a searchable online registry of more than 160 interventions supporting mental health promotion, substance abuse prevention, and mental health and substance abuse treatment. We connect members of the public to intervention developers so they can learn how to implement these approaches in their communities."

Office of National Drug Control Policy - About

2010-09-10T17:46:00.000-07:00

Office of National Drug Control Policy - About: "The principal purpose of ONDCP is to establish policies, priorities, and objectives for the Nation's drug control program. The goals of the program are to reduce illicit drug use, manufacturing, and trafficking, drug-related crime and violence, and drug-related health consequences. To achieve these goals, the Director of ONDCP is charged with producing the National Drug Control Strategy. The Strategy directs the Nation's anti-drug efforts and establishes a program, a budget, and guidelines for cooperation among Federal, State, and local entities."

Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and the Brain

2010-09-10T17:45:00.000-07:00

Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and the Brain: "Alcohol is a teratogen (substance that is toxic to the baby's developing brain). Damage can occur in various regions of the brain. The areas that might be affected by alcohol exposure depend on which areas are developing at the time the alcohol is consumed. Since the brain and the central nervous system are developing throughout the entire pregnancy, the baby's brain is always vulnerable to damage from alcohol exposure."

Research about Alcohol and College Drinking Prevention

2010-09-10T17:44:00.001-07:00

Research about Alcohol and College Drinking Prevention: "Welcome to College Drinking: Changing the Culture, created by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). CollegeDrinkingPrevention.gov is your one-stop resource for comprehensive research-based information on issues related to alcohol abuse and binge drinking among college students."

CASAA Vision

2010-09-10T17:44:00.000-07:00

CASAA Vision: "At CASAA our first priority is to reduce suffering caused by substance use and other addictive behaviors. We do this by generating high quality prevention and treatment research. We settle for nothing less than the highest standards of scientific integrity in our research and applied programs. Attention to human diversity strengthens our science and makes it relevant to our larger society. We do our best work by collaborating with colleagues and working across disciplines, which helps us answer more important questions about substance abuse than we otherwise could. At CASAA we are committed to sharing our knowledge with fellow scientists, practitioners and individuals who are directly impacted by substance use. It matters to us that our work makes an impact both here in our state and in our larger community."

Close to Home - Science: Animations

2010-09-10T17:43:00.000-07:00

Close to Home - Science: Animations: "Animations: How Drugs Work"

Idaho officials take aim at pot substitute 'Spice' | Treasure Valley Crime | Idaho Statesman

2010-09-09T16:26:00.000-07:00

Idaho officials take aim at pot substitute 'Spice' Treasure Valley Crime Idaho Statesman: "The merchants who sell 'Spice' in the Treasure Valley say it is meant to be burned as incense - not smoked as a substitute for marijuana. Each jar or package sold has a disclaimer that reads 'not for human consumption.'
One store owner told the Idaho Statesman 'It's aromatherapy, dude!' before hanging up the phone without further comment last week."

NIMH · Treatment Options

2010-09-09T12:33:00.000-07:00

NIMH · Treatment Options: "There is no single best treatment package for all children with ASD. One point that most professionals agree on is that early intervention is important; another is that most individuals with ASD respond well to highly structured, specialized programs.
Before you make decisions on your child's treatment, you will want to gather information about the various options available. Learn as much as you can, look at all the options, and make your decision on your child's treatment based on your child's needs. You may want to visit public schools in your area to see the type of program they offer to special needs children.
Guidelines used by the Autism Society of America include the following questions parents can ask about potential treatments:"

Grocery Coupons: Free Samples, Free Stuff, for Parents, Kids, and Teens. Even College Students. Links to hundreds of freebies for the family on the Internet.

2010-09-08T16:25:00.000-07:00

Be careful of and steer clear of sites that require a lot of information or want you to click multiple pages. Do not disclose anything confidential and if you have to click more than two or three pages, it probably isn't worth it.

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Child Abuse & Neglect, Reactive Attachment Disorder: eMedicine Pediatrics: Developmental and Behavioral

2010-09-07T18:16:00.000-07:00

Child Abuse & Neglect, Reactive Attachment Disorder: eMedicine Pediatrics: Developmental and Behavioral: "Attachment disorders are the psychological result of negative experiences with caregivers, usually since infancy, that disrupt the exclusive and unique relationship between children and their primary caregiver(s). Oppositional and defiant behaviors may be the result of disruptions in attachment.
Many children experience the loss of primary caregivers, either because they are physically separated from them or because the caregiver is incapable of providing adequate care. Removal from primary caregivers can cause serious problems by breaking primary attachments, even if alternate caregivers are competent."

Attachment disorders: Assessment strategies and treatment approaches - Attachment & Human Development

2010-09-07T17:49:00.000-07:00

Attachment disorders: Assessment strategies and treatment approaches - Attachment & Human Development: "Abstract
The aim of this special issue is to examine methods for assessing and treating attachment disorders. This target article outlines existing strategies for assessment and considers which aspects of severe attachment disturbances and disorders may be core features of the disturbance(s). The usefulness of alternative methodologies for assessment are discussed, with particular emphasis on the need for the development of clinical protocol. The applications and implications for treatment are then discussed, with particular emphasis on the nature of the underlying disturbances that should be a focus for intervention. An absence of established treatment guidelines or consensus regarding the mechanisms of change are highlighted as barriers to further progress."

Attachment Disorder Behavior Following Early Severe Deprivation: Extension and Longitudinal Follow-up

2010-09-07T17:48:00.000-07:00

Attachment Disorder Behavior Following Early Severe Deprivation: Extension and Longitudinal Follow-up: "Results
Analyses revealed a close association between duration of deprivation and severity of attachment disorder behaviors. In addition, attachment disorder behaviors were correlated with attentional and conduct problems and cognitive level but nonetheless appeared to index a distinct set of symptoms/behaviors. Finally, there was marked stability in individual differences in attachment disorder behaviors and little evidence of a mean decrease over this 2-year period.
Conclusions
The findings offer construct validation for the attachment disorder construct and highlight clinical and conceptual questions that require further research."

Informa Healthcare - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry - 36(1):9 - Summary

2010-09-07T17:47:00.001-07:00

Informa Healthcare - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry - 36(1):9 - Summary: "Results: Current trends that integrate neuropsychiatry, infant psychiatry, and clinical psychiatry are generating more powerful models of the early genesis of a predisposition to psychiatric disorders, including PTSD. Data are presented which suggest that traumatic attachments, expressed in episodes of hyperarousal and dissociation, are imprinted into the developing limbic and autonomic nervous systems of the early maturing right brain. These enduring structural changes lead to the inefficient stress coping mechanisms that lie at the core of infant, child, and adult posttraumatic stress disorders.
Conclusions: Disorganised-disoriented insecure attachment, a pattern common in infants abused in the first 2 years of life, is psychologically manifest as an inability to generate a coherent strategy for coping with relational stress. Early abuse negatively impacts the developmental trajectory of the right brain, dominant for attachment, affect regulation, and stress modulation, thereby setting a template for the coping deficits of both mind and body that characterise PTSD symptomatology. These data suggest that early intervention programs can significantly alter the intergenerational transmission of posttraumatic stress disorders."

ingentaconnect Attachment research in eating disorders

2010-09-07T17:47:00.000-07:00

ingentaconnect Attachment research in eating disorders: "In a recent review, disturbances in attachment have been linked with eating disorder symptomatology. However, because of the limitations of study design, few inferences could be drawn about these processes in the aetiology and maintenance of eating disorder. Since that review, there has been further development in the instruments used and the publication of several further studies of attachment processes in eating disorders. We reviewed the field, expecting that greater clarity may have emerged in the 3 years since the previous review. Method . A review of the literature was carried out, using the computer search PsychLIT, Medline, Embase and The Cochrane Library . Results . There have been more studies published in this area in the last 3 years than in the entire period up until then. These can broadly be divided into those carried out in clinical and non-clinical populations, with greater weight ascribed to the former. The vast majority of studies found that attachment processes, by whatever method measured, are abnormal in eating disordered populations. Attachment style (dismissing versus preoccupied) may be linked with eating disorder diagnostic subgroup. Conclusions . Insecure attachment is common in eating disordered populations, with implications for therapy. Further work with refined instruments may clarify whether or not there is a specific association between attachment style and eating disorder subgroup. However, such an association is likely to be complicated and it may be more fruitful to study specific aspects of attachment, rather than global attachment style, in relation to eating disorder behaviour. The transgenerational transmission of attachment is a fruitful area for further investigation in eating disordered populations."

Attachment Disorders: Insecure Attachment and Reactive Attachment Disorder

2010-09-07T17:43:00.000-07:00

Attachment Disorders: Insecure Attachment and Reactive Attachment Disorder: "If you are the parent of a child with an attachment disorder, such as reactive attachment disorder, you may be physically and emotionally exhausted from trying to connect with your child, only to be met with opposition, defiance, or, maybe hardest of all, indifference. A child with insecure attachment or an attachment disorder doesn’t have the skills necessary to build meaningful relationships. Although it is never too late to treat and repair attachment difficulties, the earlier attachment issues are recognized, the easier they are to resolve. With the right tools, and a healthy dose of time, effort, patience, and love, attachment repair can and does happen."

Reactive Attachment Disorder

2010-09-07T17:38:00.000-07:00

Reactive Attachment Disorder: "There are several different sub-types of Reactive Attachment Disorders. The ambivalent sub-type can be described as an 'in-your-face' child. This is the child who is angry, oppositional, and who can be violent. The anxious sub-type is clingy, anxious, shows separation anxieties, among other symptoms. The avoidant sub-type is often overlooked. This child is very compliant, agreeable, and superficially engaging. This child often has a lack of depth to his emotions and functions as an 'as-if' child; meaning that he tries to do and say what you want, but is not genuine, authentic, or real in emotional engagement. Finally, there is the disorganized subtype, this child often presents with bizarre symptoms."

Self-Efficacy Beliefs as Shapers of Children's Aspirations and Career Trajectories - Bandura - 2003 - Child Development - Wiley Online Library

2010-09-06T07:58:00.000-07:00

Self-Efficacy Beliefs as Shapers of Children's Aspirations and Career Trajectories - Bandura - 2003 - Child Development - Wiley Online Library: "Self-Efficacy Beliefs as Shapers of Children's Aspirations and Career Trajectories
Albert Bandura1, Claudio Barbaranelli2, Gian Vittorio Caprara3, Concetta Pastorelli4"

Self-efficacy information

2010-09-06T07:55:00.000-07:00

Self-efficacy information: "The often-used Children's Self-Efficacy Scale [see validation studies] is also included (includes self-efficacy in enlisting social resources, self-efficacy for academic achievement, self-efficacy for self-regulated learning, self-efficacy for leisure time skills and extracurricular activities, self-regulatory efficacy, self-efficacy to meet others' expectations, social self-efficacy, self-assertive efficacy, and self-efficacy for enlisting parental and community support)."

LDS therapist helps women learn to talk about pornography | Deseret News

2010-09-06T07:07:00.000-07:00

LDS therapist helps women learn to talk about pornography Deseret News: "DENVER — While it is no secret how pervasive pornography has become thanks to the advent of the Internet, what frustrates marriage and family therapist Jill Manning is society's passive acceptance, even justification, of its pervasiveness.
'Pornography is not just a 'bad habit,'' Manning said. 'It links directly to such a dark underbelly of humanity. It has direct ties to organized crime, prostitution, slavery … It's troubling to see the global spread of material that degrades, demeans and undermines the role of women in society and in families.'"

How to Speak Love Language #1: Physical Touch - Parenting Ideas

2010-09-04T19:54:00.000-07:00

How to Speak Love Language #1: Physical Touch - Parenting Ideas: "According to Dr. Chapman, to some children, physical touch is their primary love language:"

Teaching Children Appropriate Touch: Helping Kids Understand Personal Boundaries and Showing Affection

2010-09-04T19:50:00.000-07:00

Teaching Children Appropriate Touch: Helping Kids Understand Personal Boundaries and Showing Affection: "Overly affectionate kids can be taught at an early age how to hug, kiss and touch others appropriately. Here are some ideas for teaching kids personal boundaries.
Public display of affection among kids is a touchy subject for many as it brings up the issue of personal boundaries. Some argue that it is important for kids to learn positive forms of affection to build trust with other people. Others fear that kids who are overly affectionate risk being alienated or hurt by others who do not appreciate the show of affection."

Good - Appropriate Touch with Children

2010-09-04T19:49:00.000-07:00

Good - Appropriate Touch with Children: "If it seems as if 'no touch' is the 'best touch,' with a child, I can assure you that there is such a thing as 'good touch.'
Everyone needs touch that soothes and nurtures. Studies on children in orphanages in England during World War II revealed that without touch children become morose (anaclitic depression) and often die despite adequate nutrition and proper hygiene."

Center for Early Literacy Learning - Adaptations Practice Guides

2010-09-01T16:37:00.000-07:00

Center for Early Literacy Learning - Adaptations Practice Guides: "These guides make it easier for young children with disabilities to participate in early literacy learning activities. Written for both parents and practitioners, the practice guides describe everyday home, community, and childcare learning opportunities that encourage early literacy learning."

Manage Anger Through Family Meetings

2010-09-01T11:24:00.000-07:00

Manage Anger Through Family Meetings: "Given the moral crisis of our times, finding effective ways for parents to enhance moral reasoning in their children is a crucial task (11). Experiences that enhance moral reasoning include situations that encourage cognitive restructuring, role-taking opportunities, participation in groups that are perceived as fair or just, and exposure to views different from one's own (5, 11). As a young person grows both in awareness that others' viewpoints and feelings are different from one's own and in the capacity to see one's own behavior from others' perspectives, so, too, does the young person's moral development grow (6, 9, 11)."

Family Meetings

2010-09-01T11:23:00.000-07:00

Family Meetings: "At the Family Education Center, we help families develop and practice the skills to nourish their relationships. One of the tools we use and teach is the family meeting, which is a meeting held in a mutually supportive, encouraging, agreed-upon format. All members of the family participate in the meeting, even young children."

Family day and family meetings – a rewarding routine | zen habits

2010-09-01T11:22:00.002-07:00

Family day and family meetings – a rewarding routine zen habits: "Last year, my family (my wife and I and our six kids) began a tradition that is one of the best things we’ve ever done: every Saturday we have a family meeting, and every Sunday is Family Day. We’ve become so much closer as a family as a result, and I highly recommend it for [...]"

family meetings

2010-09-01T11:22:00.001-07:00

family meetings: "A family meeting is a structured discussion time that typically involves all members of a family. Family meetings should be regularly scheduled (for example once a week). Special meetings can be called to discuss an important issue that cannot wait until the next regularly scheduled meeting. Holding family meetings on a regular basis has many benefits for a family."

How to Hold a Family Meeting

2010-09-01T11:22:00.000-07:00

How to Hold a Family Meeting: "Family meetings help busy families stay connected. Other benefits of this simple tool are improved communication, self-esteem, emotional support and problem solving."

Family Communication and Family Meetings

2010-09-01T11:21:00.000-07:00

Family Communication and Family Meetings: "Family meetings are time set aside to promote meaningful communication and to provide for family discussion, decision making, problem solving, encouragement and cooperation.
Family meetings can be structured and rather formal or flexible and informal.
At family meetings, everyone has a part and something to contribute. No one is less important than another, and family members contribute according to their age and ability."

Read together 20 minutes every day. | The Children's Reading Foundation

2010-08-31T17:19:00.000-07:00

Read together 20 minutes every day. | The Children's Reading Foundation: "The vision of The Children's Reading Foundation is that every child learns to read early and well, thereby reaching his or her full potential in school and life."